Electron spin resonance study of the role of nitrosyl-heme in the activation of guanylate cyclase by nitrosoguanidine and related agonists.

One major component of lens plasma membrane is a glycoprotein that SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis shows to possess an apparent molecular weight of 26,000. When this protein is solubilized in low ionic strength buffers containing SDS, and heated to 100° for 1 to 3 min prior to electrophoresis, conversion into high molecular weight aggregate results. The heat lability of this protein is greatly enhanced if it solubilized and heated in buffers containing 0.1 M NaCl. At this ionic strength, incubation for 3 h at 38° results in conversion of 20% of the protein into high melecular weight aggregates. Most other membrane proteins isolated from lens membrane are insensitive to heat treatment. It is concluded that temperature and ionic strength must be recorded and controlled carefully when using SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to study this membrane protein.     

Activatin of guanylate cyclase during the oxidation of arylamine carcinogens.

When added alone, the arylamine procarcinogens N-acetyl-aminofluorene, 4-acetyl-aminobiphenyl or their N-hydroxy derivatives failed to alter partially purified soluble guanylate cyclase from rat liver or particulate guanylate cyclase activity from colonic mucosa. However, addition of linoleic acid hydroperoxide to the enzyme preparation in the presence N-OH-acetyl-aminofluorene or N-OH-acetyl-aminobiphenyl significantly increased guanylate cyclase activity. With linoleic acid hydroperoxide plus N-OH-acetyl-aminofluorene, both the activation of hepatic guanylate cyclase and the formation of the carcinogen oxidation product 2-nitrosofluorene required hematin but not molecular O₂. Both processes were inhibited by ascorbic acid. These data strongly imply that guanylate cyclase activation was dependent upon hematin catalyzed oxidation of N-OH-acetyl-aminofluorene by the lipid peroxide. The results provide the first evidence that guanylate cyclase activation can occur during the conversion of a procarcinogen to a more reactive chemical species, and thereby emphasize the importance of examining carcinogen interaction with the GC system under conditions which permit such chemical conversion.     

Patterns of prostaglandin synthesis and degradation in isolated superficial and proliferative colonic epithelial cells compared to residual colon

Prostaglandin (PG) synthesis and degradation were examined in different regions (epithelial versus non-epithelial structures) of the rat distal colon by both HPLC analysis of [¹⁴C] arachidonate (AA) metabolites and by specific radioimmunoassays. Intact isolated colonic epithelial cells synthesized mainly PGF₂α and TXA₂, as monitored from the formation of its stable degradation product TXB₂ (PGF_2α > TXB₂ > 6-keto-PGF_1α, the stable degradation product of PGI₂=PGD₂=PGE₂=13,14-dihydro-15-keto-PGF_2α). The profile of PG products of isolated surface epithelial cells was identical to that of proliferative epithelial cells. However, generation of PGs by surface epithelium was 2 to 3-fold higher than by proliferative cells both basally and in the presence of a maximal stimulating concentration (0.1 mM) of AA. The latter implied a greater synthetic capacity of surface epithelium, rather than differences due to endogenous AA availability. The major sites of PG synthesis in colon clearly resided in submucosal structures; the residual colon devoid of epithelial cells accounted for at least 99% of the total PGs produced by intact distal colon. The profile of AA metabolites formed by submucosal structures also differed markedly from that of the epithelium. The dominant submucosal product was PGE₂. PGE₂ and its degradation product 13,14-dihydro-15-keto-PGE₂ accounted for 63% of the PG products formed by submucosal structures (PGE₂ PGD₂ > 13,14-dihydro-15-keto-PGE₂ > PGF_2α=TXB₂=6-keto-PGF_1α > 13,14-dihydro- 15-keto-PGF_2α). By contrast, epithelial cells, and particularly surface epithelium, contributed disproportionately to the PG degradative capacity of colon, as assessed from the metabolism of either PGE₂ or PGF_2α. When expressed as a percentage, epithelial cells accounted for 71% of total colonic PGE₂ degradative capacity but only 23% of total colonic protein. Approximately 15% of [³H] PGE₂ added to the serosal side of everted colonic loops crossed to the mucosal side intact. Thus, at least a portion of the PGE₂ formed in the submucosa reaches, and thereby can potentially influence functions of the epithelium.     

Phorbol diester-induced H2O2 production by peritoneal macrophages. Different H2O2 production by macrophages from normal and BCG-infected mice despite comparable phorbol diester receptors

Mouse peritoneal macrophages respond to environmental stimuli in different ways depending on their state of differentiation. Macrophages from mice with bacillus Calmette--Guerin (BCG) infection produced large amounts of H2O2 in response to phorbol diesters (PDEs), while those from noninfected mice produced little or no H2O2. The effects of PDEs on cells are mediated by specific cellular receptors for these ligands. The purpose of this study was to determine if the varying responses of macrophages from different groups of mice were caused by differences in their receptors for the PDE ligands. By all parameters studied, the binding of [20-3H]phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate ( [3H]PDBu) was similar in all macrophages irrespective of their ability to produce H2O2 in response to PDEs. Binding of [3H]PDBu was rapid at 23 degrees C reaching a maximum at 10-20 min with a subsequent decline to 50-60% of maximum by 30-60 min. Binding was slower at 0 degrees C reaching a maximum at 90-120 min. The binding was reversible, with dissociation kinetics paralleling association kinetics. The binding was saturable; the Kd's (45 to 91 nM) and number of binding sites (about 7-14 X 10(5)/cell or 11-12 pmol/mg protein) were essentially the same for the different classes of macrophages. The binding was specific, and analogs of PDBu inhibited [3H]PDBu binding to macrophages with potencies comparable to their potencies in causing in vivo tumor promotion and elicitation of other cellular responses in vitro. The ligands [3H]PDBu and [3H]PMA were degraded to comparable degrees by macrophages from normal or BCG-infected mice. Macrophages from C3H/HeJ and C3H/HeN mice, although known to differ in their abilities to respond to stimuli such as lymphokines and LPS, did not differ in their ability to produce H2O2 in response to PDEs or in their receptors for PDEs. Results of this study suggest that in vivo "activation" of macrophages in mice infected with BCG is not associated with a change in the cells' receptors for PDEs, but may be associated with "postreceptor" changes such as linkage of the PDE receptor with NAD(P)H oxidase, a change in NAD(P)H oxidase, or induction of synthesis of NAD(P)H oxidase.     

Primary photosynthetic processes: The problem of rapid irreversible redistribution of electronic energy

The general principles of a “device” aimed at the transformation of the energy of absorbed light quanta to the energy of a long-lived system with separated charges are analyzed. A set of conditions which must be fulfilled for efficient functioning of such a construction is formulated. A comparison of these results with the experimental data for the bacterial reaction centre is given. Some possibilities are discussed for the further experimental checking of the theory.     

Identification of proapoa-I in rat lymph and plasma: metabolic conversion to "mature" apoA-I

Rat apoA-I polymorphism has been analyzed in lymph and plasma. Two major proteins were present and their relative distribution was different in lymph and plasma lipoproteins. The basic protein (pI 5.60) was quantitatively most abundant among plasma lipoproteins and the acidic protein (pI 5.50) was predominant in lymph chylomicrons and lipoproteins. Microsequence amino acid analysis of the two proteins isolated by preparative isoelectrofocusing revealed that pI 5.50 apoA-I was proapoA-I with six additional amino acids (H2N-Ser-Glu-Phe-Trp-Gln-Gln) at the N-terminal end of "mature" apoA-I (pI 5.60 apoA-I). When radioiodinated proapoA-I was injected in rats, a conversion to "mature" apoA-I was observed and the process reached 92% completion in six hours. These data demonstrate the origin of apoA-I polymorphism in vivo.     

Fatty acid desaturase system of yeast microsomes. Involvement of cytochrome b5-containing electron-transport chain.

The oxidative desaturation of palmitoyl CoA by microsomes from anaerobically grown Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been studied by using NADH as electron donor. The desaturation product was identified as palmitoleic acid by periodate oxidation. The desaturase activity was sensitive to relatively high concentrations of cyanide; the concentration of cyanide causing half-maximal inhibition was determined to be 7.1 mm. The rate of reoxidation of cytochrome b₅ in NADH-reduced microsomes was stimulated by the addition of palmitoyl CoA, and the amount of cytochrome b₅ reoxidized by the palmitoyl CoA added could be closely correlated to the amount of palmitoleate formed. No stimulation of the reoxidation of cytochrome b₅ was induced by palmitoyl CoA in microsomes prepared from the desaturase-repressed cells and from a desaturase-deficient mutant, strain KD-20. It is concluded that the fatty acyl CoA desaturase system of yeast microsomes involves cytochrome b₅ as an electron carrier and that the terminal desaturase is sensitive to relatively high concentrations of cyanide.     

Anion binding to oxidized type 2 depleted and native laccase: a spectroscopically effective model for exogenous ligand binding to the type 3--type 2 active site

Xanthine oxidase, a mammalian nitroreductase, catalyzed the binding of [³H]1-nitropyrene to DNA. The binding was dependent on the presence of hypoxanthine and was inhibited by allopurinol, a specific xanthine oxidase inhibitor. These data support the hypothesis that nitroreduction is a necessary step in the metabolic activation of 1-nitropyrene to a bacterial mutagen.     

Effects of thermodynamic nonideality in kinetic studies

Experimental evidence is presented for concentration dependence of the pseudo-firstorder rate constant describing the rate of inversion of sucrose by 2 m HCl; and also of the increase in maximal velocity for the catalytic reduction of pyruvate by lactate dehydrogenase that results from addition of the inert macromolecular solutes bovine serum albumin, ovalbumin, and Dextran T70. These somewhat unusual and seemingly diverse observations are examined in terms of a theory formulated on the basis of two equilibrium reactions, the first describing complex formation between two reactants, and the second isomerization of that complex to an activated state prior to product formation. This formulation permits consideration of activity coefficient ratios relevant to the equilibria and the expression of these ratios as power series in total solution composition. Quantitative assessment of the experimental results is made possible in these terms by estimating the magnitudes of the constant coefficients of the virial expansions as excluded volumes. It is concluded that the result observed in the sucrose inversion study finds rational explanation in thermodynamic nonideality factors governing the overall equilibrium between the reactants and the activated complex of sucrose and hydronium ion. For the enzyme-catalyzed reaction the same general equation applies but particular attention is given to the simplified form that is relevant to high substrate concentrations, where, in the absence of inert compounds, the conventional maximal velocity is approached. In this region an increase in velocity observed upon addition of an inert macromolecular component may be considered explicitly in terms of excluded volume effects related to a shape change in the isomerization between enzyme-substrate complex and its activated state.     

The determination of the separation of tyrosine-99 and tyrosine-138 in calmodulin: Radiationless energy transfer

The average separation of the phenolic groups of tyrosine-99 and tyrosine-138 has been measured by radiationless energy transfer between each tyrosine and the nitro derivative of the second tyrosine. A separation of 16.7 ± 0.7 Å was found in the absence of Ca²⁺ and 15.5 ± 0.7 Å in the presence of Ca²⁺.     

The conversion of dihydroxyacetone phosphate to methylglyoxal and inorganic phosphate by methylglyoxal synthase.

[¹⁴C]Dihydroxyacetone phosphate labeled in either the C-1 or C-3 position was enzymatically synthesized, isolated, and utilized as a substrate for crystalline methylglyoxal synthase purified from Proteus vulgaris. After reaction with the enzyme, the methyl carbon of methylglyoxal³ was identified as CHI₃ by the iodoform reaction. The labeling pattern revealed that C-1 is dephosphorylated and reduced to the methyl group, while C-3 is oxidized to the aldehyde. Methylglyoxal was found to be noncompetitive with respect to dihydroxyacetone phosphate, while inorganic phosphate was competitive and transformed the dihydroxyacetone phosphate saturation kinetics from hyperbolic to sigmoidal. The enzyme was inactivated by freezing, and phosphate stabilized the enzyme toward both cold- and heat-induced denaturation. The phosphate moiety of the substrate appears to be required for binding, since the synthase is competitively inhibited by a variety of phosphorylated compounds but not by their nonphosphorylated counterparts. Based on these observations, and the ability of bromo- and iodoacetol phosphates to act as active-site reagents, a mechanism is proposed in which the enzyme first catalyzes the keto-enol tautomerization to the hydrogen-bonded enol which facilitates the internal oxidation-reduction and phosphoester cleavage with CO bond breakage.     

Metabolite-induced activation of hepatic phosphofructokinase

Hepatic phosphofructokinase, isolated in a medium containing 100 mM (NH4)2SO4, can be activated by ATP. This metabolite-induced activation was investigated in view of the suggestion that it is related to phosphorylation of phosphofructokinase. The results obtained do not support this interpretation. Inhibitors of protein phosphatases (NaF) and kinases (the Mg++-chelator, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid) did not affect the recovery of phosphofructokinase. In contrast, media of high ionic strength reduced the phosphofructokinase activity and rendered the enzyme sensitive to ATP-induced activation. Activation was also induced by other known effectors of phosphofructokinase (nucleoside triphosphates, fructose bisphosphates) and was not dependent on Mg++-ions. It is suggested that activation represents ligand-induced reversal of the inactivation of phosphofructokinase which occurs at high ionic strength. The differential sensitivity of phosphofructokinase from fed or starved animals to inactivation and reactivation is discussed.     

Identification and characterization of a soluble suppressor factor(s) in the serum of AKR mice bearing lymphocytic leukemia

Leukemia in AKR mice was found to be associated with the presence of a serum factor(s) termed AKR leukemic suppressor factor (AKR-LSF). Suppression was quantitated by measuring the inhibition of PHA-stimulated [³H]thymidine incorporation by normal AKR spleen cells at various dilutions of leukemic mouse serum (LMS). AKR-LSF activity was expressed as units per milliliter, which is the reciprocal of the LMS dilution that inhibited [³H]thymidine uptake by 50% with respect to fetal calf serum control cultures. The amount of activity in the serum directly correlated to the rate of tumor cell growth. Mice receiving 10⁷ BW5147 transplanted leukemia cells had 130 ± 12 units of AKR-LSF activity/ml of serum compared to 40 ± 8 units/ ml for mice with spontaneous leukemia. Normal mouse serum contained 33 ± 11 units/ml. The leukemic serum exhibited no strain specificity in either phytohemagglutinin or lipopolysaccharide assays, but was found to be twofold more inhibitory against mouse spleen cells than that against rat spleen cells. Human lymphocyte blastogenesis was not inhibited by the leukemic serum. LMS did not inhibit the growth of L929 fibroblasts or murine tumor cells in vitro. Further work is necessary to determine what role the suppressor factor may play in the regulation of antitumor cell immunity.     

Reaction of BCNU (1,3-bis (2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea) with polycytidylic acid. Substitution of the cytosine ring

BCNU has been reacted with polycytidylic acid and two derivatives of CMP, 3-hydroxyethyl-CMP and 3,N⁴-ethano-CMP, have been identified in the acid hydrolysate of the polymer. Their formation accounts for some of the reaction of BCNU with nucleic acids, and may be related to the mechanism of action of this compound.     

Preparation and characterization of a stable half met derivative of type 2 depleted Rhus laccase: Exogenous ligand binding to the type 3 site

We report the preparation and characterization of a stable half met (Cu(II)Cu(I)) type 2 copper depleted derivative of $\text{Rhus}$ laccase. Anion binding studies to this mixed valent type 3 protein form indicate no tight binding of anions nor group 1 - group 2 ligand behavior. This suggests that, in contrast to the well-characterized hemocyanins and tyrosinase coupled binuclear sites, exogenous ligands do $\text{not}$ appear to bridge the type 3 binuclear copper ions in laccase.     

The effect of pH on the conversion of superoxide to hydroxyl free radicals

The conversion of superoxide (O-.2) to the hydroxyl (HO.) free radical by superoxide-driven Fenton reactions was measured by the formation of hydroxylated derivatives from benzoate. Among a range of catalysts required for the conversion, the Fe3+EDTA complex was the most effective. The effect of superoxide dismutase and catalase indicated that O-.2 and H2O2 were essential reactants, while the formation of authentic HO. was confirmed by the inhibiting capacities of formate, t-butanol, and mannitol. The conversion of O-.2 to HO. was tested over a broad pH range, and was found to be highest at pH 4.8 whether Fe3+EDTA or free Fe3+ were used as the catalysts. When Fe3+EDTA was used at the optimum pH, every HO. produced required 3.7 O-.2 radicals, close to the theoretical limit of one HO. from every three O-.2 radicals generated.     

The induction of forward gene mutation and gene conversion in yeasts by treatment with cyclophosphamide in vitro and in vivo

The present paper assesses the most suitable conditions for metabolic activation with yeasts in vitro, at least as far as cyclophosphamide (Cy) is concerned. These include treatment time, incubation temperature, the amounts of S9 and cofactors. Particular attention is devoted to the use of various solvents, showing that their use can considerably affect the mutagenic response of the chemical being tested. It also examines the effects of enzyme inducers (by using S9 from rats and mice) such as phenobarbital (PB) and 5,6-benzoflavone (BF) administered separately or together. The metabolizing capability of other organs such as the lungs and kidneys is also determined. All these data are compared with Cy genotoxicity (in vivo) evaluated by the intrasanguineous host-mediated assay and by recovering the yeast target cells from the liver, lungs and kidneys. The most striking effects are that, in vitro, PB greatly enhances Cy genotoxicity, whilst in vivo it substantially reduces it.     

Control of the purine nucleotide cycle in extracts of rat skeletal muscle: effects of energy state and concentrations of cycle intermediates

The enzymes of the purine nucleotide cycle-AMP deaminase, adenylosuccinate synthetase, and adenylosuccinate lyase-were examined as a functional unit in an in vitro system which simulates the purine nucleotide composition of sarcoplasm. Activity of each cycle enzyme in extracts of rat skeletal muscle was observed to increase as ATP/ADP, reflecting the energy state of the system, was lowered from approximately 50 to 1. The increase in AMP deaminase activity could be attributed to effects of energy state and factors such as AMP concentration, which are obligatorily coupled to energy state. The increases in synthetase and lyase activities were accounted for by increases in the concentration of IMP and adenylosuccinate, respectively. The inhibitory influence of IMP concentration on synthetase activity reported in other systems was not observed in this system; synthetase activity progressively increased as IMP concentration was raised to approximately 4 mM, and apparent saturation occurred at concentrations above 4 mM. Also, adenylosuccinate was found to be an activator of AMP deaminase. The results of this study document that the activities of the enzymes of the purine nucleotide cycle increase in parallel at low energy states, and the components of the cycle function as a coordinated unit with individual enzyme activities linked via concentrations of cycle intermediates.     

Monensin inhibits the conversion of proalbumin to serum albumin in cultured rat hepatocytes

Effects of monensin, a carboxylic ionophore, on intracellular transport of albumin were studied in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. The lag time after which newly synthesized albumin first appeared in medium was 10 min in the control cells, while it was prolonged to 40 min in the monensin-treated cells. In addition, this inhibition of secretion by monensin was accompanied by an intracellular accumulation of proalbumin. The results strongly suggest that monensin arrests the intracellular transport of proalbumin before the site where its conversion takes place.