Generation of ATP by chloroplasts through solvent perturbation.

A two-stage method was discovered for generating ATP by chloroplasts in the dark at constant pH through solvent perturbation. With cold acetone as the perturbing solvent, the yield of ATP was found to increase with the volume percent of acetone in the first stage medium. The results are difficult to explain in term of the proton gradient model, but is consistent with the conventional model of prior water formation and subsequent ATP generation.     

Cryoenzymic studies on myosin subfragment 1: perturbation of an enzyme reaction by temperature and solvent

The effects of temperature and solvent on myosin subfragment 1 ATPase have been studied. Under all of the conditions used the data could be fitted to the Bagshaw - Trentham pathway: (formula; see text) Ethylene glycol (40%) was used as the cryosolvent ; this makes K1 and k+2 measurable and allows for temperature studies over an extensive temperature range (+35 to -20 degrees C) and thus to reasonably accurate thermodynamic parameters. The following techniques were used: ATP chase (for K1 and k+2); Pi burst (k+2 or k+3 + k-3); single-turnover Pi burst [k0 = k +4K3 /(1 + K3)] absorption stopped flow (k+2 or k+3 + k-3); steady state (k+6 or k0). Myosin provides examples of causes for nonlinear Arrhenius and van't Hoff plots. A temperature-induced structural change is exemplified by a "jump" in an Arrhenius plot of k+2 and "breaks" in van't Hoff plots of K1 and K3. A change in rate-limiting step is illustrated from stopped-flow experiments ( kobsd approximately k+2 at low and approximately k+3 + k-3 at high temperatures) and steady-state experiments (kcat approximately k+6 at low and approximately k0 at high temperatures). A third cause is illustrated by k0: an Arrhenius plot of k0 is nonlinear since there is a break in K3. These studies illustrate the use of temperature perturbation as a way of revealing reaction intermediates and of defining the conditions required for the isolation of a particular intermediate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Location of chromophoric residues in ribonuclease T1 by solvent perturbation difference spectroscopy.

When beef liver microsomes are labeled with UDP-[³H]N-acetyl glucosamine, three different lipid-bound saccharides are labeled: dolichol pyrophosphoryl-GlcNAc, dolichol pyrophosphoryl-(GlcNAc)₂ and a previously uncharacterized compound (component III). Incubation with UDP leads to the disappearance of dolichol pyrophosphoryl-(GlcNac)₂ from microsomes prelabeled with UDP-³H-N-acetyl glucosamine. This result provides further support for the suggestion of Leloir $\text{et}\text{al.}$ (6) that dolichol pyrophosphoryl-(GlcNAc)₂ is synthesized from dolichol pyrophosphoryl-GlcNAc and UDP-N-acetyl glucosamine. Component III cannot be discharged with UMP or UDP. It elutes from DEAE-cellulose exactly as the other components. The saccharide portion of component III has a molecular weight of 800–900 and contains glucose in addition to N-acetyl glucosamine.     

Time scale of protein aggregation dictated by liquid-liquid demixing

The growing impact of protein aggregation pathologies, together with the current high need for extensive information on protein structures are focusing much interest on the physics underlying the nucleation and growth of protein aggregates and crystals. Sickle Cell Hemoglobin (HbS), a point-mutant form of normal human Hemoglobin (HbA), is the first recognized and best-studied case of pathologically aggregating protein. Here we reanalyze kinetic data on nucleation of deoxy-HbS aggregates by referring them to the (concentration-dependent) temperature T(s) characterizing the occurrence of the phase transition of liquid-liquid demixing (LLD) of the solution. In this way, and by appropriate scaling of kinetic data at different concentrations, so as to normalize their spans, the apparently disparate sets of data are seen to fall on a master curve. Expressing the master curve vs. the parameter epsilon = (T - T(s)) / T(s), familiar from phase transition theory, allows eliciting the role of anomalously large concentration fluctuations associated with the LLD phase transition and also allows decoupling quantitatively the role of such fluctuations from that of microscopic, inter-protein interactions leading to nucleation. Referring to epsilon shows how in a narrow temperature span, that is at T - T(s), nucleation kinetics can undergo orders-of-magnitude changes, unexpected in terms of ordinary chemical kinetics. The same is true for similarly small changes of other parameters (pH, salts, precipitants), capable of altering T(s) and consequently epsilon. This offers the rationale for understanding how apparently minor changes of parameters can dramatically affect protein aggregation and related diseases.     

Structural similarities and differences among metal ion complexes of phosphoglucomutase by solvent perturbation and ultraviolet difference spectroscopy

Although the binding of bivalent metal-ion activators to phosphoglucomutase produces substantial changes in the near ultraviolet spectrum of the enzyme, the extent to which aromatic residues are exposed to the aqueous environment, as assessed by means of solvent perturbation spectroscopy (using D2O), does not appear to be significantly altered by the binding process. Other ways in which the spectral effects induced by activation might arise are considered by making comparisons with those changes induced by various nonactivating monovalent and bivalent cations. The observed differences are most easily interpreted in terms of an electrostatic perturbation of (at least) two different tryptophan residues. This interpretation is supported by using cationic vs, neutral (zwitterionic) tryptophan in various solvent systems to generate difference spectra that are similar either to the observed metal-ion induced spectral differences or to the differences in the spectral changes produced by various pairs of metal ions. Although a rationale for the striking similarity in the spectral changes produced by Mg2+ and by Li+ (which elicits less than 2 X 10(-8) of the enzymic activity induced by Mg2+) cannot be ascribed to a simple electrostatic effect, alone, the involvement of an additional, negatively charged group in the binding of Mg2+ (but not Li+) could reduce the effective charge of bound Mg2+ to a value close to that of bound Li+.     

Effects of group I cations on the gelation of iota carrageenan

N.m.r. and rheological measurements have been used to study the gelation of iota carrageenan. Gelation has been found to occur only at polymer concentrations above the critical entanglement concentration. The high temperature sol state above the gel-sol transition appears to be an entangled polymer network. Although Li⁺ and Na⁺ ions are less effective at gelling the polymer than K⁺, Rb⁺ and Cs⁺ all cationic forms studied gel at sufficiently high polymer concentration and ionic strength. ⁷Li⁺, ²³Na, ³⁹K, ⁸⁷Rb and ¹³³Cs n.m.r. studies have been made as a function of temperature. The lithium salt form (2.2% w/w concentration) formed a viscoelastic solution at room temperature. The other salt forms gelled on cooling. The spectra of Li, Na and Cs carrageenan showed little change on heating whereas K and Rb spectra showed marked changes in apparent intensity. The nature of the cation interaction with the juntion zones is discussed.     

Interaction of magnesium and inorganic phosphate with calcium-deprived sarcoplasmic reticulum adenosinetriphosphatase as reflected by organic solvent induced perturbation

The mechanism of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) ATPase Mg2+-dependent phosphorylation from Pi was investigated in the presence of 15% v/v dimethyl sulfoxide at pH 6, 20 degrees C, and in the absence of potassium. Measurements of intrinsic fluorescence changes and of 32P-labeled phosphoprotein (*E-P) were in agreement, both at equilibrium and in transient situations. We found that the amount of phosphoenzyme present and its rate of formation depended solely on the concentration of the (Mg X Pi) complex. Up to 6 nmol of phosphate/mg of protein was covalently bound to the enzyme, implying almost complete phosphorylation. Oxygen exchange experiments were also performed in order to allow calculation of the absolute rate constant of *E-P hydrolysis to the noncovalent complex (0.8-1.0 s-1), which differs from the observed rate of enzyme dephosphorylation (0.3-0.5 s-1); in addition, they allowed calculation of the bimolecular rate constant of substrate binding (2-2.4 M-1 s-1). The results demonstrate that in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide, phosphorylation occurs by the following simple mechanism: relatively slow binding of the neutral substrate (Mg X Pi), with poor affinity, followed by a thermodynamically favorable formation of the covalent bond between phosphate and the possibly hydrophobic active site. The interaction between magnesium and calcium-deprived SR vesicles was studied in the presence of 0-20% v/v dimethyl sulfoxide (or 0-30% v/v glycerol) at pH 7 and 20 degrees C. The presence of either solvent led to the disappearance of the two typical pH-dependent effects we previously characterized for magnesium: loss of the Mg2+-induced spectral shift of tryptophan fluorescence emission and loss of the biphasic pattern displayed by the intrinsic fluorescence rise after addition of calcium to Ca2+-deprived Mg2+-preincubated vesicles. In the absence of solvent, the interaction of magnesium with the calcium-deprived ATPase was also characterized from the point of view of phosphoenzyme formation from ATP or Pi at pH 7 in the absence of potassium: we found that calcium-independent phosphorylation was slower when phosphate was added to SR vesicles preincubated with magnesium that when magnesium was added to vesicles preincubated with phosphate, suggesting that preincubation with magnesium had depleted the phosphate-reactive conformation of the ATPase. A simple reaction scheme for phosphoenzyme formation is described: it implies that the (Mg X Pi) complex is a substrate for this reaction, whereas the Mg2+ itself acts as a pH-dependent, dimethyl sulfoxide sensitive inhibitor of full enzyme phosphorylation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Effects of amino acids on gelation kinetics and solubility of sickle hemoglobin

Ten amino acids have been studied for their effects on the gelation of sickle hemoglobin using the recently developed assay of Hofrichter, Ross and Eaton. By monitoring kinetics and using high speed sedimentation, the rate and extent of gelation are directly measured. Of the amino acids tested, only phenylalanine significantly inhibited the gelation of sickle hemoglobin. The systematic study of the effects of additives, such as amino acids, on gelation serves as a basis for the study of potential non-covalent inhibitors of sickling.     

不同实验方法检测常用有机溶剂对细菌活性的影响及其安全使用限量

【目的】采用不同实验方法测定常用有机溶剂二甲基亚砜(DMSO)、丙酮和乙醇对细菌活性的影响,以指导抗菌类药物体外抑菌实验所用溶剂的选择和添加限量。【方法】采用常规体外抑菌实验方法(纸片扩散法、肉汤稀释法),并参照生长曲线法检测有机溶剂DMSO、丙酮和乙醇对大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)及金黄色葡萄球菌(Staphylococcus aureus)的抑菌作用,采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)观察溶剂作用后的细菌形态变化。【结果】3种溶剂对E.coli和S.aureus抑菌率达到20%时,在肉汤稀释法下,DMSO、丙酮、乙醇的浓度(体积比)分别为1.00%、0.25%、2.00%和1.00%、1.00%、0.50%;在生长曲线法下,溶剂浓度(体积比)分别为0.50%、1.00%、0.50%和1.00%、0.50%、0.50%;而在纸片扩散法下,32%(体积比)DMSO和32%(体积比)乙醇对E.coli产生明显抑菌圈,但3种溶剂对S.aureus均无抑菌圈出现。3种方法比较后得出:当3种溶剂的抑菌率达到20%时,溶剂浓度(体积比)均低于0.5%,对细菌整体生长活性影响较小。SEM结果表明控制溶剂使用限量可有效减少其对E.coli生长过程的影响。【结论】相对于DMSO和丙酮,乙醇对微生物生长繁殖能力的影响更加明显;采用相同浓度有机溶剂时,液态条件下(肉汤稀释法和生长曲线法)微生物受到有机溶剂的影响较大。     

Probing protein structure by solvent perturbation of NMR spectra: the surface accessibility of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor.

In the absence of specific interactions, the relative attenuation of protein NMR signals due to added stable free radicals such as TEMPOL should reflect the solvent accessibility of the molecular surface. The quantitative correlation between observed attenuation and surface accessibility was investigated with a model system, i.e., the small protein bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor. A detailed discussion is presented on the reliability and limits of the approach, and guidelines are provided for data acquisition, treatment, and interpretation. The NMR-derived accessibilities are compared with those obtained from x-ray diffraction and molecular dynamics data. Although the time-averaged accessibilities from molecular dynamics are ideally suited to fit the NMR data, better agreement was observed between the paramagnetic attenuations of the fingerprint cross-peaks of homonuclear proton spectra and the total NH and H alpha accessibilities calculated from x-ray coordinates, than from time-averaged molecular dynamics simulations. In addition, the solvent perturbation response appears to be a promising approach for detecting the thermal conformational evolution of secondary structure elements in proteins.