Changes in subfraction composition of chicken lysine-rich histone during ontogenesis]

Lysine-rich histone isolated from different chicken tissues was separated electrophoretically into 4-5 subfractions. The subfrations reffered to as 1, 2, 3, and 4, occur in each the tissue studied, erythrocyte lysine-rich histone containing an additional subfraction 1a. F1 histone from mitotically active tissues (intestinal mucosa, thymus, testes) has a higher content of subfraction 2, while the same histones from mototically inactive tissues (liver, heart, brain) contain an elevated amount of subfraction 3. F1 histone isolated from liver, brain and heart of 21-day embryo has much more of subfraction 2, than the same histone of adult animal. During the chicken development from hatching till maturation the content of subfraction 2 in these organs decreases, and the content of subfraction 3 increases. The rate of this change in liver corresponds to the rate of DNA synthesis. In F1 histone of erythrocytes the content of subfraction 4 falls down during the post hatching ontogenesis.     

Interactions between the lysine-rich histone F1 and deoxyribonucleic acid

1. The interactions of the lysine-rich histone F1 with DNA have been studied at various histone to DNA ratios, in water and in the presence of uni- and bi-valent cations. In water only, histone F1, even in fourfold excess, is unable to precipitate all the DNA. In 0.14m-sodium chloride, 0.8mg. of histone F1 is required to precipitate 1mg. of DNA, whereas in 0.07m-magnesium chloride only 0.4mg. is required. 2. Bivalent cations are also shown to be more effective in dissociating the DNA-histone complex. Histone F1 can be selectively removed from deoxyribonucleoprotein with 0.1m-magnesium chloride. 3. The precipitation of DNA by histone F1 is a reversible process and the complex can be taken in and out of solution by changing the ionic environment. 4. The bearing of these results on the observed ability of various DNA-histone complexes to act as templates for RNA synthesis is discussed.     

Structural properties of the methionine-containing subfraction of rat liver histone H1

Cyanogen bromide (CNBr) cleavage of total rat liver histone H1 generates a C-terminal peptide which originates from a methionine-containing subfraction. This subfraction comprises approx. 20% of the whole rat liver H1 population, resembles calf thymus CTL-1 in size but contains methionine and histidine, higher proportions of serine and less alanine and proline. Edman degradation established the N-terminal sequence of the CNBr peptide as Arg-Arg-Lys-Ala-Ser-Gly-Pro-Pro-Val-Glu. By alignment with calf thymus CTL-1, methionine was identified as residue 30 replacing alanine in a non-conservative replacement. Residue 40 is deleted but sequence homology near the double proline sequence in the G-domain is retained. The CNBr peptide is estimated at 177-181 residues and comprises the complete G- and C-domain and two arginines from the basic cluster in the N-domain. Removal from H1 of all but two residues of the N-domain does not abolish secondary and tertiary folding. This GC-peptide opens new approaches to the study of the function of H1 in chromatin.     

Functional relationship between the ADP/ATP-carrier and the F1-ATPase in mitochondria.

1. The distribution of labeled and unlabeled adenine-nucleotides inside and outside mitochondria was followed after addition of [14C]ADP to rat liver mitochondria. Two types of mitochondria were used: 1, respiring mitochondria which were carrying out oxidative phosphorylation and which had been replenished in ATP by incubation in a medium supplemented with succinate and phosphate; 2, non-respiring mitochondria which had been partially depleted of ATP by incubation in a medium supplemented with rotenone and phosphate. During the first minute following addition of [14C]ADP to the respiring mitochondria, the pre-existing intramitochondrial (internal) [12C]ATP was released into the medium and replaced by newly synthesized [14C]ATP. No [14C]ADP accumulated in the mitochondria. It is suggested that extramitochondrial (external) ADP entering respiring mitochondria in exchange for internal ATP is phosphorylated to ATP before its complete release in the matrix space. In non-respiring mitochondria, the entry of [14C]ADP into the mitochondria was accompanied by the appearance in the external space of [12C]ADP and [12C]ATP, with a marked predominance of [12C]ADP. Thus in non-respiring mitochondria, the residual internal ATP is dephosphorylated to ADP in the inner membrane before being released outside the mitochondria. 2. When mitochondria were incubated with glutamate, ADP and [32P]phosphate, the [32P]ATP which accumulated in the matrix space became rapidly labeled in both the P gamma and P beta groups of the ATP, due to the presence of a transphosphorylation system in the mitochondrial matrix. The [32P]ATP which accumulated outside the mitochondria was also labeled in the P beta group, although less rapidly than the internal ATP. Our data show that a large fraction (75-80%) of the ATP produced by phosphorylation of added ADP within the inner mitochondrial membrane is released into the matrix space before being transported out from the mitochondria; only a small part (20-25%) is released directly outside the mitochondria without penetrating the matrix space. 3. In respiring and phosphorylating mitochondria, the value of the Km of the ADP-carrier for external ADP was 2-4 times lower than its value in non-respiring and non-phosphorylating mitochondria. 4. The above experimental data are discussed with reference to the topological and functional relationships between the ADP-carrier and the oxidative phosphorylation complex in the inner mitochondrial membrane. They strongly suggest that the ADP-carrier comes to the close neighbourhood of the ATP synthetase on the matrix side of the inner membrane.     

Associations between epicardial adipose tissue,subclinical atherosclerosis and high-density lipoprotein composition in type 1 diabetes

Background

The pathophysiology of cardiovascular complications in people with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) remains unclear. An increase in epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) and alterations in the composition of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) are associated with coronary artery disease, but information on its relationship in T1DM is very limited. Our aim was to determine the association between EAT volume, subclinical atherosclerosis, and HDL composition in type 1 diabetes.

Methods

Seventy-two long-term patients with T1DM without clinical atherosclerosis were analyzed. EAT volume and subclinical atherosclerosis were measured using cardiac computed tomography angiography. EAT was adjusted according to body surface to obtain an EAT index (iEAT). HDL composition was determined.

Results

The mean iEAT was 40.47?±?22.18 cc/m². The bivariate analysis showed positive associations of the iEAT with gender, age, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, body mass index, waist circumference, insulin dose, and triglyceride (P?<?0.05). The iEAT correlated positively with small HDL, increased content of apolipoprotein (apo)A-II and apoC-III, and decreased content of apoE and free cholesterol. Multiple linear regression showed that age, apoA-II content in HDL, and waist circumference were independently associated with the iEAT. Fifty percent of the patients presented subclinical atherosclerotic lesions. These patients had a higher iEAT, and their HDL contained less cholesterol and more apoA-II and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 than patients without subclinical atherosclerosis.

Conclusion

Alterations in the composition of HDL in TIDM are associated with increased iEAT and the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis. We propose that these abnormalities of HDL composition could be useful to identify T1DM patients at highest cardiovascular risk.

     

Study on the age-dependent tissue expression of FUT1 gene in porcine and its relationship to E. coli F18 receptor

Escherichia coli (E. coli) that produces adhesin F18 is the main pathogen responsible for porcine post-weaning diarrhea and edema disease. The receptor for E. coli F18 has not been described in pigs, however the alpha (1,2)-fucosyltransferase (FUT1) gene on chromosome 6 has been proposed as a candidate. The objective of this study, therefore, was to investigate the relationship between FUT1 gene expression and E. coli F18 receptor in Sutai pigs of different ages (8-, 18-, 30- and 35-day-old). FUT1 gene expression was detected in 11 pig tissues with the highest level in lung, and expressed consistently at the four time points. In most tissues, FUT1 gene expression levels decreased from days 8 to 18, then continually increased on days 30 and 35, with expression around weaning time higher than that on day 8. Gene ontology and pathway analysis showed that FUT1 was involved in 32 biological processes, mainly those integral to the membrane, or involved in glycosylation, as well as regulation of binding, interestingly participating in three pathways related to glycosphingolipid biosynthesis. From this analysis and the high linkage disequilibrium between the FUT1 gene and the E. coli F18 receptor locus, we can speculate that higher expression of the FUT1 gene in small intestine is beneficial to the formation of receptors to the E. coli F18 strain and is related to the sensitivity to the pathogen.     

Nitration of the tyrosine in histone F1 in salt solutions and in F1-polyanion complexes

The reaction of histone F1 with tetranitromethane was used to study the environment of the single tyrosine residue in the molecule. It was found that at a 10-fold molar excess of tetranitromethane over tyrosine approx. 40 min were needed to convert 85% of the tyrosine residues to nitrotyrosine. The rate and extent of nitration of F1 in dilute salt solutions was used as a reference against which the rate and extent of nitration under conditions known to affect the conformation of F1 was measured. In 1.0 M NaCl solutions the rate of nitration decreased, suggesting that the presence of salt may cause a conformational change in the tyrosine containing region of the histone. When the histone is complexed with polyanions such as DNA, RNA or poly-L-glutamic acid the accessibility of the tyrosine to nitration is markedly reduced. The results indicate that upon association with polyanions the non-cationic, tyrosine-containing, region in F1 undergoes a conformational change or alternatively, this tyrosine containing region is tightly associated with the polyanion.     

The relationship between metallothionein-1F (MT1F) gene and hepatocellular carcinoma

To investigate the expression of MT1F gene in hepatocellular carcinoma tissue and the growth suppression effect of exogenous introduction of MT1F gene on liver cell line HepG2 and to explore the potential application of MT1F gene in gene therapy of tumor. Eukaryotic expression vector of pCMV-MT1F plasmid was introduced into HepG2 line which expressed no MT1F protein originally with lipofectamine transfection method. The cell growth curve, soft agar colony formation rate and tumorigenicity in SCID mice were examined to demonstrate the growth suppression effect of exogenous MT1F gene on HepG2 cell line. The MT1F mRNA and MT1F protein were also detected in 60 pairs of surgical specimens of hepatocellular carcinoma by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. The transfected HepG2 cell line grew more slowly than control HepG2 as shown by cell growth curves, the soft agar colony formation rate (3.8 percent vs. 7.4 percent, p <.01) and the average growth rate of tumor in SCID mice (30.9 +/- 6.9 vs. 70.3 +/- 5.6, p <.01). The expression level of MT1F mRNA and protein significantly increased in paracancerous tissue, normal tissue than in cancer tissues (75 percent, 70 percent vs. 16.7 percent by ISH and 66.7 percent, 60 percent vs. 10 percent by IHC, p <.01). Exogenous MT1F gene shows the strong effect of growth inhibition on HepG2 cell line. In the liver cancer tissue, MT1F shows down-regulated expression that supports the inhibited function of MT1F in cancer growth and suggests MT1F may have an important role in gene therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.     

The relationship between histones F 2al and F 2a2 and the ancestral histone A peptide. Further evidence for the common origin of histones F 2al, F 2a2 and F 3.

The relationship between histones F 2al and F 2a2 becomes much more apparent if the alignment is not made between the total sequences but between the ancestral A peptide, reconstructed earlier for histone F 2al (IV) and F 2a2. 46.5% of the latter's sequence can thus be clearly connected with F 2al through this ancestral dodecapeptide. A parallel development of histones F 2al, F 2a2 and F 3 from the A peptide is proposed.     

Chemical repellency in birds: relationship between chemical structure and avoidance response.

We examined how molecular structure of 24 anthranilate and benzoic acid derivatives correlated with drinking behavior in European starlings Sturnus vulgaris. The effectiveness of bird repellents was associated with basicity, the presence of an electron-donating group in resonance with an electron-withdrawing carboxylic group on a phenyl ring, and a heterocyclic ring in the same pi cloud plane as the phenyl ring. Of the benzoic acid derivatives tested in this study, methyl, ethyl, dimethyl, and linalyl anthranilate as well as anthranilic acid and 4-ketobenztriazine were repellent to birds. Water consumption was significantly reduced relative to control levels at concentrations as low as 0.05% (weight/volume) for the best repellents. Further statistical tests showed that reduction in consumption for the best repellents was absolute, not significantly different from zero consumption. Anthranilic acid isomers were moderately good repellents. The ability to generate a model predicting repellency allows for the efficient identification and development of ecologically sound, nonlethal, taxa-specific repellents to be used for the protection of wildlife in agricultural and industrial applications.     

磺酰脲受体1基因多态性与2型糖尿病的相关性

目的：研究磺酰脲受体1（sulfonylurea receptorl,SUR1）基因外显子16-3c／t多态性与湖北汉族人群2型糖尿病的相关性。方法：采用同胞对（2型糖尿病人及其正常同胞）和随机病例一对照两种实验设计,应用PCR-RFLP方法分析共405个样本的SUR1基因外显子16-3c／t多态性,并测定身高、体重、腰围、臀围、血压、空腹血糖等生理生化指标。结果：两种实验设计中病例组与对照组的基因型和等位基因频率均无显著性差异（P〉0．05）。结论：在湖北汉族人群中未发现SUR1基因外显子16-3c／t多态性与2型糖尿病之间存在关联,该基因座可能不是该人群的致病基因。     

Characterization of the relationship between ADP- and epsilon-induced inhibition in cyanobacterial F1-ATPase

The ATPase activity of chloroplast and bacterial F(1)-ATPase is strongly inhibited by both the endogenous inhibitor ε and tightly bound ADP. Although the physiological significance of these inhibitory mechanisms is not very well known for the membrane-bound F(0)F(1), these are very likely to be important in avoiding the futile ATP hydrolysis reaction and ensuring efficient ATP synthesis in vivo. In a previous study using the α(3)β(3)γ complex of F(1) obtained from the thermophilic cyanobacteria, Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1, we succeeded in determining the discrete stop position, ～80° forward from the pause position for ATP binding, caused by ε-induced inhibition (ε-inhibition) during γ rotation (Konno, H., Murakami-Fuse, T., Fujii, F., Koyama, F., Ueoka-Nakanishi, H., Pack, C. G., Kinjo, M., and Hisabori, T. (2006) EMBO J. 25, 4596-4604). Because γ in ADP-inhibited F(1) also pauses at the same position, ADP-induced inhibition (ADP-inhibition) was assumed to be linked to ε-inhibition. However, ADP-inhibition and ε-inhibition should be independent phenomena from each other because the ATPase core complex, α(3)β(3)γ, also lapses into the ADP-inhibition state. By way of thorough biophysical and biochemical analyses, we determined that the ε subunit inhibition mechanism does not directly correlate with ADP-inhibition. We suggest here that the cyanobacterial ATP synthase ε subunit carries out an important regulatory role in acting as an independent "braking system" for the physiologically unfavorable ATP hydrolysis reaction.     

Iodination of Xenopus laevis histone F2a1 in chromatin.

The reaction of calf thymus and Xenopus laevis histones with radioactive iodine has been studied under various conditions that affect chromatin structure. All histones from both species contain at least one tyrosine residue and, in a denaturing solvent, all the the histones react with iodine. Histone F2a1 has been studied in detail. Calf thymus F2a1 is known to contain four tyrosyls and all four react with iodine. In high voltage paper electrophoresis, the tyrosine-containing peptides from calf co-migrate with those from Xenopus F2a1, suggesting that the amino acid sequence is strongly conserved between these two species. Therefore, the published calf thymus F2a1 sequence has been used to order the Xenopus F2a1 peptides within the molecules. When gently isolated native chromatin is iodinated in a low ionic strength medium 60% of the radioactivity in F2a1 is in tyrosyl 88, 30% in tyrosyl 51, and tyrosyl 72 and 98 have almost no radioactivity. Reagents which remove the protein from the DNA (2 M NaCl) or partially disrupt protein tertiary structure (5 M urea) increase the reactivity of each of the four tyrosyls five- to tenfold, suggesting that all four are protected about equally by the overall folding of the chromatin. Isolated F2a1 iodinated in the presence of 10 M urea shows uniform labeling in each of the four peptides, suggesting that tyrosyl 72 and 98 are afforded some protection solely by protein-protein interactions. The stepwise removal of histones in increasing NaCl concentrations differentially increases the availability of each F2a1 tyrosyl. The preferential exposure of tyrosyl 88 coincides with the removal of the majority of F1 histones at 0.5 M NaCl while the gradual and stepwise increase in reactivity of tyrosyl 51, 72, and 98 correlates with the gradual removal of histones other than F1. Radioactive iodination of chromatin has been shown to be a sensitive probe for detecting changes in the association state (or conformation) of histone F2a1.     

Immunological comparison of basic encephalitogen and histone F2A1.

The extent of immunological cross-reaction between basic encephalitogen and histone F2A1 on both the humoral antibody level and on the cellular level has been established. The extent of humoral cross-reaction was tested by direct complement fixation employing both anti-histone F2A1 and antisera to basic encephalitogen, by inhibition of complement fixation, by radioimmunoassay and by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis. The data obtained failed to reveal immunological cross-reaction at the cellular level was tested by the lymphocyte stimulation technique in rabbits and guinea pigs, by inhibition of lymphocyte stimulation and by delayed hypersensitivity skin reactions. A slight but significant cross-reaction between the two proteins on the cellular level was detected by inhibition of lymphocyte stimulation and by the delayed hypersensitivity test. It is concluded that the immunological studies provide limited evidence that the two proteins share antigenic determinants.     

Studies on the role and mode of operation of the very-lysine-rich histone H1 (F1) in eukaryote chromatin. The conformation of histone H1.

Proton magnetic resonance, circular dichroism and other studies of whole and cleaved calf thymus histone H1 (formerly F1) reveal the presence of specific folded structures in the region approximately from residue 40--115. Ionic, hydrogen-bond and hydrophobic interactions all appear to contribute to the stability of the structure, which is predicted to contain alpha-helices in regions 42--55 and 58--75. No evidence was found for beta-structures, either inter or intramolecular, or for any structure formation outside the region 40--115. At 18 degrees C and a protein concentration of 2 mM the first-order exchange rate between random-coil and structured forms is slower than 80 s-1; at 40 degrees C the exchange rate is faster than 330 s-1.