Calmodulin-Binding Proteins in Chromaffin Cell Plasma Membranes

Abstract: Calmodulin-binding proteins present in chromaffin cell plasma membranes were isolated and directly compared with calmodulin-binding proteins present in chromaffin granule membranes. Chromaffin cell plasma membranes were prepared using Cytodex 1 microcarriers. Marker enzyme studies on this preparation showed a nine- to 10–fold plasma membrane enrichment over cell homogenates and a low contamination of these plasma membranes by subcellular organelles. Plasma membranes prepared in this manner were solubilized with Triton X-100 and applied to a calmodulin-affinity column in the presence of calcium. Several major calmodulin-binding proteins ( 240, 105 , and 65 kilodaltons) were eluted by an EGTA-containing buffer. ¹²⁵I-Calmodulin overlay experiments on nitrocellulose sheets containing both chromaffin plasma and granule membranes showed that these two membranes have several calmodulin-binding proteins in common ( 65, 60, 53 , and 50 kilodaltons), as well as unique calmodulin-binding proteins (34 kilodaltons in granule membranes and 240 and 160 kilodaltons in plasma membranes). The 65–kilodalton calmodulin-binding protein present in both membrane types was shown to consist of two isoforms (pI 6.0 and 6.2) by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Previous experiments from our laboratory, using two monoclonal antibodies (mAb 30 and mAb 48) specific for a rat brain synaptic vesicle membrane protein (p65), showed that the monoclonal antibodies reacted with a 65–kilodalton calmodulin-binding protein present in at least three neurosecretory vesicles (chromaffin granules, neurohypophyseal granules, and rat brain synaptic vesicles). When these monoclonal antibodies were tested on chromaffin cell plasma membranes and calmodulin-binding proteins isolated from these membranes, they recognized a 65–kilodalton protein. These results indicate that an immunologically identical calmodulin-binding protein is expressed in both chromaffin granule membranes (as well as other secretory vesicle membranes) and chromaffin cell plasma membranes, thus suggesting a possible role for this protein in granule/plasma membrane interaction.     

Identification of Proteins Correlated with Increased Freezing Tolerance in Bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss. cv Manchar) Cell Cultures

Cellular and extracellular protein profiles from Bromus inermis Leyss. cv Manchar cell suspension cultures cold hardened by low temperature and abscisic acid (ABA) treatment were analyzed by one- and two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Cellular proteins (25, 165, 190, and 200 kilodaltons) increased by low temperature growth and cellular proteins (20, 25, 28, 30, 32, 37, 40, 45, 200 kilodaltons) increased by exogenous ABA treatment were identified. Low temperature treatment inhibited the synthesis of a 22 kilodalton protein and ABA treatment resulted in the synthesis of two extracellular proteins (17 and 21 kilodaltons). Low temperature and ABA-induced hardening conditions increased or induced a 25 and a 200 kilodalton protein. The 25 and a 30 kilodalton protein previously shown to be enriched by ABA-induced hardening conditions at both 3 and 23°C temperatures co-fractionated with the crude membrane fraction (30,000g sediment). The 200 kilodalton protein was detected in the 30,000g supernatant. Two-dimensional analysis of the crude membrane fraction resolved the 30 kilodalton protein band into a major polypeptide with an apparent isoelectric point of 6.85.     

Variation in the synthesis of membrane proteins of human T lymphocytes during mitogenic activation: recognition of a 70,000 dalton protein with anti-p23,30 heteroantiserum and a novel 42,000 dalton protein with anti-p44,12 heteroantiserum

Membrane proteins of [35S]methionine-labeled, human T lymphocytes were analyzed by SDS polyacrylamide gradient slab gel electrophoresis and autoradiography each day during a 6-day period of activation with phytohemagglutinin or with concanavalin A. This process was characterized by the novel appearance and limited duration of synthesis of many proteins, in particular of 30, 35, 48, 50, and 55 kilodalton molecules in the early days of blast transformation and subsequently of 120, 125, 135, and 145 kilodalton proteins. The HLAA-A,-B antigens and beta 2-microglobulin, as recognized by anti-p44,12 serum, were synthesized by both resting and mitogen-activated T cells on each day of culture. But, an additional 42-kilodalton protein was recognized with this same antiserum on days 4 and 5 of activation. A 70-kilodalton protein, immunoprecipitated by anti-p23,30 (anti-HLA-protein, immunoprecipitated by anti-p23,30 (anti-HLA-DR) heteroantiserum, was synthesized principally on days 2 and 4 of mitogenic transformation. This molecule was absent from normal, resting T cells, the T cell line, CCRF-CEM, and the B cell line, Raji. In a parallel test, the same anti-p23,30 serum detected the conventional HLA-DR bimolecular glycoprotein complex of 29 and 34 kilodaltons in nonionic detergent solubilized Raji B cell membrane preparations. This study described in detail the molecular changes in the membrane proteins of activated T lymphocytes and included the definition of novel forms of HLA-A,B and HLA-DR associated molecules.     

Pulse-labeling Studies on Protein Synthesis in Developing Pea Seeds and Evidence of a Precursor Form of Legumin Small Subunit

Intact cotyledons were taken from pea seeds at various stages during seed development and pulse-labeled with ¹⁴C-amino acids. Salt-soluble proteins then were extracted and fractionated on Na dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Storage proteins in these extracts were identified by their binding to immunoaffinity columns. The labeling studies showed that the synthesis of storage protein polypeptides accounts for a major part of total protein synthesis of developing cotyledons between 10 and 22 days after flowering. The distribution of the incorporated radioactivity between individual storage protein polypeptides varied with stage of development. For example, the synthesis of the 50 kilodalton complex of vicilin subunits dominated the early stages of protein accumulation but was a negligible proportion of the total incorporation in the later stages. On the other hand, the 75 kilodalton vicilin subunit was synthesized throughout this entire period. The major small subunit of legumin (20 kilodaltons) was not detected by either Coomassie blue staining or by 2-hour labeling during this period. It was found to arise during the desiccation phase of seed maturation from a long-lived precursor with a relative electrophoretic mobility equivalent to 19 kilodaltons.     

Immunological Characterization of Iron-Regulated Membrane Proteins in the Cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans R2

Antibodies cross-reactive with specific membrane proteins were used to investigate membrane development in Anacystis nidulans R2 during recovery from iron stress. Polyclonal antibodies prepared using the iron-regulated chlorophyll (Chl)-protein CPVI-4 (HB Pakrasi, HC Riethman, LA Sherman 1985 Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 82: 6903-6907) as antigen were characterized and used to identify three iron stress-induced polypeptides of 36, 35, and 34 kilodaltons on immunoblots of polyacrylamide gels. The 34 kilodalton protein was shown to be a component of the Chlbinding CPVI-4 complex. The 36 kilodalton protein is an unrelated, intrinsic membrane protein tightly regulated by iron (designated IrpA), whereas the 35 kilodalton immunoreactive component is an extremely abundant glycoprotein (GP35). An analysis of photosystem II (PSII)-associated Chl-proteins during recovery from iron stress demonstrates that CPVI-4 is associated with most of the Chl present in iron-starved cells, whereas the PSII core polypeptides are present in very low levels; upon recovery, CPVI-4 diminishes in abundance as the relative levels of the other PSII proteins increase. The abundance of CPVI-4 in iron-stressed cells and the distribution of Chl among individual Chl-proteins during recovery suggest a possible role for CPVI-4 in the direction of membrane assembly during recovery from iron stress.     

Correlated induction of nitrate uptake and membrane polypeptides in corn roots

Induction of corn (Zea mays L.) seedling root membrane polypeptides was studied by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis in relation to induction of nitrate uptake. When nitrate uptake was studied using freshly harvested roots from 4-day old corn seedlings, a steady state rate of uptake was achieved after a lag of 2 to 3 hours. The plasma membrane fraction from freshly harvested roots (uninduced) and roots pretreated in 5 millimolar nitrate for 2.5 or 5 hours (induced) showed no differences in the major polypeptides with Coomassie blue staining. Autoradiography of the ³⁵S-methionine labeled proteins, however, showed four polypeptides with approximate molecular masses of 165, 95, 70, and 40 kilodaltons as being induced by both 2.5 and 5-hour pretreatment in 5 millimolar nitrate. All four polypeptides appeared to be integral membrane proteins as shown by Triton X-114 (octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol) washing of the membrane vesicles. Autoradiography of the two-dimensional gels revealed that several additional low molecular weight proteins were induced. A 5-hour pretreatment in 5 millimolar chloride also induced several of the low molecular weight polypeptides, although a polypeptide of about 30 kilodaltons and a group of polypeptides around 40 kilodaltons appeared to be specifically induced by nitrate. The results are discussed in relation to the possibility that some of the polypeptides induced by nitrate treatment may be directly involved in nitrate transport through the plasma membrane.     

HSP70-related proteins in bovine skeletal muscle

Constitutive expression of HSP70-related proteins was detected in a variety of bovine tissues using a specific antibody. All tissues contained a 73 kilodalton protein. A lower molecular weight form (72 kilodaltons) that co-migrated on two-dimensional gels with the stressed-induced HSP70 was present in high levels in bovine skeletal muscle, but absent from rat skeletal muscle. Two-dimensional gel analysis revealed several isoforms for both the 73 and 72 kilodalton forms. Purification of HSP70-related proteins from bovine skeletal muscle, thymus gland and rat skeletal muscle demonstrated that the antibody recognized all the forms present in the tissue homogenates. The two proteins are similar but distinct as detected by one-dimensional peptide mapping. The lower molecular form was not present in fetal tissue but was detectable in newborn animals, suggesting that the levels are regulated during development.     

Pea chloroplast glutathione reductase: purification and characterization

Glutathione reductase (EC 1.6.4.2) was purified from intact pea (Pisum sativum) chloroplasts by a method which includes affinity chromatography on ADP-agarose. Fractions from the affinity column which had glutathione reductase activity consisted of polypeptides of 60 and 32 kilodaltons. Separation of the proteins by electrophoresis on native gels showed that glutathione reductase activity was associated with 60 kilodalton polypeptides and not with the 32 kilodalton polypeptides. Antibodies to spinach whole leaf glutathione reductase (60 kilodaltons) cross-react with the chloroplast 60 kilodalton glutathione reductase but not the 32 kilodalton polypeptides. In the absence of dithiothreitol the 60 kilodalton polypeptides showed a shift in apparent molecular weight on sodium dodecyl sulfate gels to 72 kilodaltons. Dithiothreitol did not alter the activity of the chloroplast enzyme. Chloroplast glutathione reductase is relatively insensitive to NADPH.     

Electrophoretic characterization of a detergent-treated plasma membrane fraction from corn roots

Experiments were conducted to determine conditions essential for electrophoretic characterization of a detergent-extracted plasma membrane fraction from corn (Zea mays L.) roots. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) initially gave poor resolution of polypeptides in the plasma membrane fraction and, upon detergent treatment for purification of the proton-pumping adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase), showed no enrichment for a 100 kilodalton catalytic subunit characteristic of the ATPase. In contrast to SDS-PAGE, phenol urea acetic acid (PAU)-PAGE clearly resolved two polypeptides in the 100 kilodalton region that were enriched during detergent treatment and indicated at least one polypeptide forms a phosphorylated intermediate characteristic of the ATPase. Problems with SDS-PAGE were found to be caused, in part, by a combination of endogenous proteases and heat-induced aggregation of high molecular weight proteins. The usually standard procedure of boiling the sample prior to SDS-PAGE caused the aggregation of the 100 kilodalton polypeptides. By controlling for proteases using chymostatin and/or phenylmethane sulfonyl floride, and not boiling the sample prior to electrophoresis, two polypeptides were clearly resolved by SDS-PAGE in the 100 kilodalton region of Triton X-114-extracted membranes from corn, oat, barley, and tomato.     

Protein Synthesis in Bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss) Cultured Cells during the Induction of Frost Tolerance by Abscisic Acid or Low Temperature

Bromus inermis Leyss cell cultures treated with 75 micromolar abscisic acid (ABA) at both 23 and 3°C developed more freezing resistance than cells cultured at 3°C. Protein synthesis in cells induced to become freezing tolerant by ABA and low temperature was monitored by [¹⁴C]leucine incorporation. Protein synthesis continued at 3°C, but net cell growth was stopped. Most of the major proteins detected at 23°C were synthesized at 3°C. However, some proteins were synthesized only at low temperatures, whereas others were inhibited. ABA showed similar effects on protein synthesis at both 23 and 3°C. Comparative electrophoretic analysis of [¹⁴C]leucine labeled protein detected the synthesis of 19, 21 and 47 kilodalton proteins in less than 8 hours after exposure to exogenous ABA. Proteins in the 20 kilodalton range were also synthesized at 3°C. In addition, a 31 kilodalton protein band showed increased expression in freezing resistant ABA treated cultures after 36 hours growth at both 3 and 23°C. Quantitative analysis of [¹⁴C]leucine labeled polypeptides in two-dimensional gels confirmed the increased expression of the 31 kilodalton protein. Two-dimensional analysis also resolved a 72 kilodalton protein enriched in ABA treated cultures and identified three proteins (24.5, 47, and 48 kilodaltons) induced by low temperature growth.     

Expression of native rabbit light meromyosin in Escherichia coli. Observation of a powerful internal translation initiation site

The cDNA-sequence coding for rabbit skeletal muscle light meromyosin (LMM) was placed under the control of the lambda promoter (PL) of an Escherichia coli expression vector. The resulting plasmid pEXLMM74 expressed non-fused rabbit skeletal muscle LMM with yields ranging from 1 to 5% of the total proteins of E. coli. This LMM was specifically recognized by polyclonal antibodies raised against chicken pectoralis muscle myosin. It could be highly enriched from E. coli extracts by using two cycles of high and low ionic strength buffer. The partially purified protein contained a major side-product, with a calculated molecular mass of 59 kilodaltons, that is produced by translation initiation from a site in the coding region of LMM. After deletion of the translation initiation site derived from the expression plasmid, only the 59 kilodalton protein is expressed in E. coli from the resulting plasmid pEXLMM59. Both the 74 and 59 kilodalton proteins were shown to form paracrystals. They were studied by electron microscopy using negative staining and were found to show characteristic striations with an axial periodicity of about 43 nm. By circular dichroism measurement we showed that the purified 59 kilodalton protein is folded mostly as an alpha-helix.     

Ciliary Membrane Proteins of Tetrahymena thermophila

SYNOPSIS SDS polyacrylamide gels of the ciliary membrane proteins of Tetrahymena thermophila revealed 5 major peaks and 11 minor protein peaks ranging in molecular weight from below 20,000 to above 250,000. The peaks resembled those found for ciliary membrane proteins of Paramecium aurelia. .     

Alterations in the plasma membrane polypeptide pattern of tomato roots (Lycopersicon esculentum) during the development of arbuscular mycorrhiza

Changes induced by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) formation in the plasma membrane polypeptide pattern of tomato roots have been assessed by 2D-PAGE analysis. Plasma membrane fractions were isolated by aqueous two-phase partitioning from control and mycorrhizal tomato root microsomes. Analysis of 2D-PAGE gels revealed that AM colonization induces at the plasma membrane level two major changes in protein synthesis: down-regulation of some constitutive polypeptides and synthesis of new polypeptides or endomycorrhizins. A comparison of changes induced by two different levels of AM colonization showed that 16 polypeptides were differentially displayed at both AM colonization stages, while some others were transiently regulated. Five of the differentially displayed plasma membrane polypeptides at both AM colonization stages were selected for N-terminal amino acid sequencing. Reliable sequences were obtained for two of the selected spots. Sequence alignment search indicated that one of the sequenced polypeptides showed 75% identity to the N-terminal sequence of the 69 kDa catalytic subunit of the vacuolar type H(+)-ATPase of several plants. The possible significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the functioning of the AM symbiosis.     

The effects of salt stress on polypeptides in membrane fractions from barley roots

Cell fractions enriched in endoplasmic reticulum, tonoplast, plasma membrane, and cell walls were isolated from roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv CM 72) and the effect of NaCl on polypeptide levels was examined by two-dimensional (2D) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The distribution of membranes on continuous sucrose gradients was not significantly affected by growing seedlings in the presence of NaCl; step gradients were used to isolate comparable membrane fractions from roots of control and salt-grown plants. The membrane and cell wall fractions each had distinctive polypeptide patterns on 2D gels. Silver-stained gels showed that salt stress caused increases or decreases in a number of polypeptides, but no unique polypeptides were induced by salt. The most striking change was an increase in protease resistant polypeptides with isoelectric points of 6.3 and 6.5 and molecular mass of 26 and 27 kilodaltons in the endoplasmic reticulum and tonoplast fractions. Fluorographs of 2D gels of the tonoplast, plasma membrane, and cell wall fractions isolated from roots of intact plants labeled with [³⁵S]methionine in vivo also showed that salt induced changes in the synthesis of a number of polypeptides. There was no obvious candidate for an integral membrane polypeptide that might correspond to a salt-induced sodium-proton anti-porter in the tonoplast membrane.     

Purification and Properties of Nonproteolytic Degraded ADPglucose Pyrophosphorylase from Maize Endosperm

ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase from developing endosperm tissue of starchy maize (Zea mays) was purified 88-fold to a specific activity of 34 micromoles α-glucose-1-P produced per minute per milligram protein. Rabbit antiserum to purified spinach leaf ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase was able to inhibit pyrophosphorolysis activity of the purified enzyme by up to 90%. The final preparation yielded four major protein staining bands following sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. When analyzed by Western blot hybridization only the fastest migrating, 54 kilodaltons, protein staining band cross-reacted with affinity purified rabbit antispinach leaf ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase immunoglobulin. The molecular mass of the native enzyme was estimated to be 230 kilodaltons. Thus, maize endosperm ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase appears to be comprised of four subunits. This is in contrast to the respective subunit and native molecular masses of 96 and 400 kilodaltons reported for a preparation of maize endosperm ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase (Fuchs RL and JO Smith 1979 Biochim Biophys Acta 556: 40-48). Proteolytic degradation of maize endosperm ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase appears to occur during incubation of crude extracts at 30°C or during the partial purification of the enzyme according to a previously reported procedure (DB Dickinson, J Preiss 1969 Arch Biochem Biophys 130: 119-128). The progressive appearance of a 53 kilodalton antigenic peptide suggested the loss of a 1 kilodalton proteolytic fragment from the 54 kilodalton subunit. The complete conservation of the 54 kilodalton subunit structure following extraction of the enzyme in the presence of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and/or chymostain was observed. The allosteric and catalytic properties of the partially purified proteolytic degraded versus nondegraded enzyme were compared. The major effect of proteolysis was to enhance enzyme activity in the absence of added activator while greatly decreasing its sensitivity to the allosteric effectors 3-P-glycerate and inorganic phosphate.     

The second peptidoglycan hydrolase of Streptococcus faecium ATCC 9790 covalently binds penicillin.

A second peptidoglycan hydrolase (muramidase-2) of Streptococcus faecium ATCC 9790 (Enterococcus hirae) has been purified to apparent homogeneity. The enzyme has been shown to be a beta-1,4-N-acetylmuramoylhydrolase (muramidase; EC 3.2.1.17) and to differ in substrate specificity from a previously isolated muramidase. Purified enzyme appears as two protein staining bands with molecular masses of 125 and 75 kilodaltons (kDa) on polyacrylamide gels after sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis. Elution and renaturation of protein bands from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels showed that both proteins have muramidase-2 activity. Both proteins have been shown to bind radioactive benzylpenicillin and have the same electrophoretic mobilities as penicillin-binding proteins 1 and 5 present in membrane preparations of this organism, respectively. Incubation of a [14C]penicillin G-labeled 125-kDa form of the enzyme with crude alkaline extracts from S. faecium (which did not contain added proteinase inhibitors) showed the endogenous conversion of the radiolabeled 125-kDa form to the radiolabeled 75-kDa form of the enzyme.     

Synthesis of a larger precursor for the subunit IV of rat liver cytochrome c oxidase in a cell-free wheat germ system

Poly(A)+RNA from phenol-extracted rat liver polysomes was translated in a heterologous cell-free system derived from wheat germ. The RNA stimulated the incorporation of [35S]methionine into proteins 20- to 30-fold. The labeled translation products were incubated with an antiserum against cytochrome c oxidase. After binding of the antigen x immunoglobulin complex to and elution from protein A-Sepharose and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide step gel electrophoresis, autoradiography was carried out. Mainly one major protein with an apparent molecular weight of 19,500 was visualized. When the unlabeled individual cytochrome c oxidase subunits IV, V, VI, or VII, isolated from preparative SDS-polyacrylamide gels, were added to the translation mixture, it was found that only subunit IV could compete with the in vitro-synthesized protein of 19.5 kilodaltons in respect to the binding to the cytochrome c oxidase antiserum. The in vitro-synthesized product was 3,000 daltons larger than the cytochrome c oxidase subunit polypeptide IV. It is concluded that the subunit IV is synthesized as a precursor. Evidence for the precursor form was obtained from translation experiments with [35S]methionine bound to a specific initiator tRNA which led to a radioactively labeled product of identical electrophoretic mobility as the 19.5 kilodalton protein. Furthermore, two dimensional tryptic fingerprints of subunit IV and its precursor show a high degree of similarity.     

Isolation of Major Proteins from Boar Sperm Plasma Membranes by Preparative Gel Electrophoresis and Localization of a Major Polypeptide Using Specific Monoclonal Antibodies

A preparative procedure using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) is described for isolating major boar sperm plasma membrane polypeptides (PMPs) in soluble form. Proteins were first separated on 6 mm diameter gels using a pH gradient expanded in the acidic region. The second dimension used 6 mm thick, 10 acrylamide gels. Major proteins identified by Coomassie staining were excised and electroeluted. The procedure was applied to the isolation of a group of proteins in the molecular weight range 40K-50K which comprise a major fraction of the total integral membrane protein in these cells (groups 4 and 5^1,2). Yields of electrophoretically pure soluble polypeptides from these groups were between 0.3 mg-0.5 mg from the processing of 16 gels per week. Electroeluted proteins were also used to elicit monoclonal antibodies tc major proteins. Monoclonal antibodies to the major plasma membrane protein referenced as 4.85 were isolatpd and shown to be specific tc this protein by transblotting precedures. This proteir was primarily localized over the anterior portion of the principal segment of ejaculated sperm by indirect FITC fluorescence microscopy.

The ability to isolate 60–100 mg of plasma membranes per week from the cauda epididymides of boars also permitted developing a procedure for the rapid fractionation of large amounts of detergent sclubilizec plasma membranes by isoelectric focusing in flatbecls of Biogel P200. For the first time, individual proteins of sperm surface proteins can be isolated in large enough amounts to begin detailed biochemical characterization, localization, and functional testing.     

Identification of multiple ral gene products in human platelets that account for some but not all of the platelet Gn-proteins

Polyclonal antibodies raised against specific recombinant low molecular mass GTP-binding proteins were tested for their ability to recognize partially purified human platelet membrane Gn-proteins (i.e. proteins that bind [alpha-32P]GTP on nitrocellulose blots of SDS/polyacrylamide gels). An antiserum against simian ralA protein recognized a 27 kDa human platelet protein with the same apparent molecular mass as the major platelet Gn-protein (Gn27). In further analysis by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the isoelectric focusing step permitted resolution of 12 major Gn-protein forms, seven of 27 kDa (Gn27a-g), one of 26 kDa (Gn26) and four of 24 kDa (Gn24a-d). The ralA antibody reacted strongly with the five most basic Gn27 species (a-e), weakly with Gn26 and not at all with Gn27f, Gn27g or Gn24a-d. We conclude that ral gene products account for some but probably not for all of the platelet Gn-proteins.