Turnover of enzymes of peroxisomal β-oxidation in rat liver

Male Wistar rats were given a diet containing 2% (w/w) di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP), a peroxisomal proliferator, for 4 weeks. The activities of enzymes of peroxisomal β-oxidation and of catalase were markedly increased by the DEHP administration. The time required to reach halfway to the maximal induction for enzymes of peroxisomal β-oxidation was 5–7 days, whereas that for catalase was 3 days. A separate DEHP group was placed on the control diet after 14 days of feeding with the DEHP diet. On the withdrawal of DEHP, activities of enzymes of the β-oxidation system and of catalase decreased to the control levels with a half-life of 2–3 days. Responses of some mitochondrial enzymes involved in fatty acid oxidation are also described.     

Isolation of Cyclic 3′,5′-Guanosine Monophosphate from Bacterial Culture Fluids

To clarify the biosynthetic pathway of maridomycin, the biosynthetic relation among 16-membered macrolide antibiotics belonging to leucomycin-maridomycin group was examined with intact cells or growing cultures of Streptomyces hygroscopicus No. B–5050–HA and its mutants.

Carbomycin A, B and leucomycin A₃ were converted to maridomycin II in the pH range of 5.5-7.5 with an optimum between 6.0-6.5. But, maridomycin II was not converted to leucomycin A₃ or carbomycin B. These findings were confirmed by culture experiment. Leucomycin A₃, carbomycin A and B added to the culture at 48 hr were almost completely converted to maridomycin II.

On the basis of these facts, we propose a biosynthetic relation among leucomycin A₃, carbomycin A, carbomycin B and maridomycin II.     

Cell-free synthesis of angler fish preproinsulin: Complete amino acid sequence of the signal peptide

Messenger ribonucleic acid isolated from angler fish ($\text{Lophius}\text{americanus}$) islets of Langerhans was translated in the wheat germ cell-free protein synthesizing system containing different combinations of radioactive amino acids. Preproinsulin (～ 11,000 daltons) was identified amongst the translation products, by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis, and subjected to microsequencing techniques. The fish preproinsulin was found to possess an NH₂-terminal signal peptide of 24 amino acids, with regions of homology to human, rat and chicken preproinsulin signal sequences.     

邻苯二甲酸酯在不同品种通菜-土壤系统中的累积效应研究

在邻苯二甲酸(2-乙基己基)酯(DEHP)不同污染程度的水稻土上盆栽不同品种通菜,应用GC／MS联机检测技术研究了通菜-土壤系统中DEHP的环境行为与归宿．结果表明,通菜中DEHP的含量为0．335～12．710mg·kg^-1,与土壤的污染程度呈正相关．不同品种通菜之间对DEHP的吸收累积效应存在显著差异,与其叶子大小存在一定的正相关关系．种植不同品种通菜后土壤中DEHP的残留量(1．424～19．834mg·kg^-1)存在显著差异．通菜对土壤中DEHP的BCFs都小于1．0,与土壤的污染程度呈负相关．不同通菜品种的BCFs之间存在显著差异,中等叶子通菜品种的BCFs相对较大。     

固定化微生物对多环芳烃污染土壤的降解

利用微生物固定化技术,研究了微生物固定化菌剂对土壤中菲、蒽、芘、(艹屈)和苯并(a)芘的降解动态,并且采用Michaelis-Menton和Monod动力学模型对结果进行拟合.结果显示,4种处理(TB02、TB07、TBB03、TBB08)均有降解菲、蒽、芘、(艹屈)和苯并(a)芘的能力.其中,处理TB02的降解能力强、降解速率快、半衰期短且处理成本低,而处理TB07则需要较长时间作用于PAHs污染土壤,其降解能力才能充分发挥出来.当菲、蒽、芘、(艹屈)和苯并(a)芘的初始浓度均为20 mg·kg-1时,42 d后,TB02对菲、蒽、芘、(艹屈)和苯并(a)芘的降解率分别为84.32%、85.24%、82.59%、43.75%和62.25%; 133 d后,TB07对5种污染物的降解率分别为95.00%、95.24%、90.93%、74.82%和72.20%.通过比较5种污染物半衰期,其可降解性由大到小依次为菲、蒽、芘、苯并(a)芘、(艹屈).     

The effect of ammonium nitrate on the synthesis of nitrogenase and the concentration of leghemoglobin in pea root nodules induced by Rhizobium leguminosarum

The effects of NH₄NO₃ on the development of root nodules of Pisum sativum after infection with Rhizobium leguminosarum (strain PRE) and on the nitrogenase activity of the bacteriods in the nodule tissue were studied. The addition of NH₄NO₃ decreased the nitrogenase activity measured on intact nodules. This reduction of nitrogen fixation did not result from a reduced number of bacteroids or a decreased amount of bacteroid proteins per gram of nodule. The synthesis of nitrogenase, measured as the relative amount of incorporation of [³⁵S]sulfate into the components I and II of nitrogenase was similarly not affected.The addition of NH₄NO₃ decreased the amount of leghemoglobin in the nodules and there was a quantitative correlation between the leghemoglobin content and the nitrogen-fixing capacity of the nodules. The conclusion is that the decrease of nitrogen-fixing capacity is caused by a decrease of the leghemoglobin content of the root nodules and not by repression of the nitrogenase synthesis.     

Regulation of glucose-6-p dehydrogenase synthesis in rat epididymal fat pads.

The relative rate of synthesis of glucose-6-P dehydrogenase increases up to 8-fold when fasted rats are fed a 60% carbohydrate, fat-free diet for 3 days but the specific activity of the enzyme only increases 2 to 3 fold. This suggests that the high carbohydrate diet also causes a 2 to 3 fold increase in the rate of glucose-6-P dehydrogenase degradation. The nutritional induction of this enzyme in adipose tissue is primarily due to a large increase in the rate of its synthesis.     

Effect of rate-limiting elongation on bacteriophage MS2 RNA-directed protein synthesis in extracts of Escherichia coli

The consequences of limiting the rate of elongation of protein synthesis in vitro have been examined. The concentration of Trp-tRNA^Trp was manipulated by varying the amount of exogenously added tryptophan in extracts from an Escherichia coli mutant in which the tryptophanyl-tRNA-synthetase has a higher K_M for tryptophan. The evidence presented supports the hypothesis that variation of the rate of elongation can be a means of regulating gene expression, both directly, by slowing or accelerating the rate of protein synthesis and indirectly, by leading to varying three-dimensional structures of the messenger RNA when progress of the ribosomes is perturbed. The data can be described by assuming that if a specific transfer RNA is limiting, to a first approximation the overall rate of protein synthesis is determined by the relative rate of reading past an individual codon requiring that tRNA raised to the power of how many times that codon appears in the message. This could be explained by a model in which, with a significant probability, the ribosome stops protein synthesis prematurely at these codons, falls off the messenger RNA and is available for further rounds of protein synthesis. In agreement with other work, evidence is also presented that suggests that under the most drastic available limitation of the elongation rate, that is, starvation for a given amino acid, reading through the corresponding “hungry codon” occurs in vitro at a surprisingly high rate, possibly due to mistranslation.     

Inhibition of Bacillus circulans F-2 Amylase by Guanine Nucleotides

We investigated the relationship between protein and tryptophan intake and the adverse-effect-level of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP). Growth retardation of young rats due to DEHP was strengthened by increasing protein level. The addition of tryptophan to the diet caused extreme increases in the nicotinamide formation, but no growth retardation was observed.     

Biosynthesis of canine fibrinogen: In vitro synthesis of Aα, Bβ and γ precursor chains

An mRNA fraction from dog liver translated with a rabbit reticulocyte protein synthesizing system in the presence of [³⁵S]-methionine produces fibrinogen-related proteins which are immunoprecipitated with rabbit antiserum to dog fibrinogen. Analyses of these radioactive proteins by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography indicate that the three fibrinogen chains (Aα, Bβ and γ) are synthesized separately as larger precursors. The putative pre Aα and pre Bβ chains were characterized by their susceptibility to treatment with thrombin and batroxobin. Thrombin degraded the pre Aα and pre Bβ chains, while batroxobin only acted on the pre Aα chain. The pre γ chain was not degraded by these enzymes.     

邻苯二甲酸二(2-乙基己基)酯对大鼠胎盘组织的影响

目的:探讨孕期不同剂量邻苯二甲酸二(2-乙基己基)酯(DEHP)暴露对大鼠胎盘组织形态学和超微结构的影响,以推断DEHP对胎盘结构和功能的损害。方法:健康雌性Wistar大鼠40只,随机分为4组,妊娠第11日起每日给予DEHP灌胃,剂量分别为:对照组(玉米油)、低剂量组(100 mg/kg)、中剂量组(500 mg/kg)和高剂量组(1000 mg/kg),妊娠第19日处死孕鼠,取胎盘组织分别做HE染色和电镜制片,观察各剂量组胎盘形态学及超微结构的变化。结果:各剂量组胎盘形态学和超微结构的变化与DEHP摄入量呈负相关,低剂量组胎盘无明显改变;中剂量组胎盘缩小,空泡化细胞增多,微观结构显示胞质内线粒体水肿;高剂量组胎盘迷路带血窦扩张淤血严重,滋养细胞变性、坏死。结论:DEHP可导致大鼠胎盘形态结构发生改变,这种病理改变是胎盘功能减退的形态学基础,可直接影响胚胎发育和妊娠结局。     

Microheterogeneity of the glycoprotein subunit of the (sodium + potassium)-activated adenosine triphosphatase from the electroplax of Electrophorus electricus.

Isoelectric focusing of purified Na,K-ATPase on polyacrylamide gels resolved the protein into ten bands. The catalytic and glycoprotein subunits were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel filtration. Isoelectric focusing of the isolated glycoprotein subunit showed that it accounted for nine of the ten bands. Part of this microheterogeneity can be attributed to variations in sialic acid content in individual bands, since removal of all of the sialic acid by neuraminidase treatment reduced the number of bands to four. It is suggested that the microheterogeneity of the glycoprotein subunit is due to post-translational modifications of oligosaccharides on a common polypeptide backbone.     

Spectrin as a stabilizer of the phospholipid asymmetry in the human erythrocyte membrane

After treatment of intact human erythrocytes with SH-oxidizing agents (e.g. tetrathionate and diamide) phospholipase A₂ cleaves approx. 30% of the phosphatidylserine and 50% of the phosphatidylethanolamine without causing hemolysis (Haest, C.W.M. and Deuticke, B. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 436, 353–365). These phospholipids are scarcely hydrolysed in fresh erythrocytes and are assumed to be located in the inner lipid layer of the membrane (Verkleij, A.J., Zwaal, R.F.A., Roelofsen, B., Comfurius, P., Kastelijn, D. and van Deenen, L.L.M. (1973) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 323, 178–193). The enhancement of the phospholipid cleavage is now shown to be accompanied by a 50% decrease of the membrane SH-groups and a cross-linking of spectrin, located at the inner surface of the membrane, to oligomers of < 10⁶ dalton.Blocking approx. 10% of the membrane SH groups with N-ethylmaleimide suppresses both the polymerization of spectrin and the enhancement of the phospholipid cleavage. N-Ethylmaleimide, under these conditions, reacts with three SH groups per molecule of spectrin, 0.7 SH groups per major intrinsic 100 000 dalton protein (band 3) and 1.1 SH groups per molecule of an extrinsic protein of 72 000 daltons (band 4.2). Blocking studies with iodoacetamide demonstrate that the SH groups of the 100 000-dalton protein are not involved in the effects of the SH-oxidizing agents.It is suggested that a release of constraints imposed by spectrin enables phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine to move from the inner to the outer lipid layer of the erythrocyte membrane and that spectrin, in the native erythrocyte, stabilizes the orientation of these phospholipids to the inner surface of the membrane.     

Biosorption of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate by seaweed biomass

Samples of various Sargassum species were collected in the Hong Kong marine environment and used for studies on biosorption of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP). Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to determine the removal capacity and removal efficiency of the biosorbents. The DEHP removal ability was similar among beached seaweed and three freshly collected Sargassum species. Different physico-chemical factors were evaluated in order to enhance the performance of the biosorbents. Under optimized conditions (25 mg biomass, initial pH 4, 25 °C, 40 mg L^–1 DEHP), the mean removal capacity of beached seaweed and Sargassum siliquastrum was 5.68 and 6.54 mg g^–1, respectively. Examination of the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms showed that the biosorption phenomenon by these biosorbents could well be described by these models. Desorption of DEHP was also assessed with methanol, which showed the most satisfactory desorbing ability. Further study in multiple adsorption–desorption of DEHP by the biosorbents demonstrated the reusability of both beached seaweed and S. siliquastrum for biosorption of DEHP.     

Synthesis of a photoaffinity probe for the beta-adrenergic receptor.

The synthesis and characterization of a beta-adrenergic photo-affinity label, N-(-2-hydroxy-3-naphthoxypropyl)-N′ (-2-nitro-5-azidophenyl ethylenediamine, (NAP-propranolol) is described. The inhibition constants (Ki) for the NAP-propranolol inhibition of ³H-dihydroalprenolol binding and the inhibition of (?)-isoproterenol-stimulated adenylate cyclase in turkey erythrocytes are 100 nM and 19 nM respectively.     

Characterization of the deoxyribonuclease determined by lambda reverse as exonuclease VIII of Escherichia coli.

Gottesman et al. (1974) detected a new DNAase in Escherichia coli infected with λ reverse, a recombination-proficient substitution mutant of phage λ which is deleted for the λ recombination genes. We have purified this enzyme, using the procedure developed for the purification of exonuclease VIII (Kushner et al., 1974), a DNAase produced by E. coli K-12 strains carrying sbcA^? mutations. The λ reverse exonuclease (Exoλrev) is identical to exonuclease VIII by several criteria. The two enzymes elute at similar salt concentrations from DEAE-cellulose and DNA-cellulose; sediment at the same velocity in glycerol gradients, corresponding to a molecular weight of about 1.4 × 10⁵; migrate at the same R_F in sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gels, indicating a polypeptide molecular weight of 1.4 × 10⁵; exhibit maximum activity at 20 mm-Mg²⁺ and pH 8 to 9; and are much more active on double-stranded DNA than on heat-denatured DNA. Both enzymes are rendered sedimentable by antiserum against Exoλrev. This evidence supports the hypothesis that the non-λ DNA substitution in λ reverse includes recE, the structural gene for exonuclease VIII.     

Studies on the oligomeric structure of yeast phosphofructo-kinase by means of cross-linking diimidoesters.

Intracellular cross-linking of yeast phosphofructokinase with a series of diimidoesters of different chain length resulted in the appearance of tetramers as largest cross-linked product of the enzyme subunits. The native enzyme is evidently composed of eight subunits being arranged in two tetramers α₄β₄. In the tetramers the monomers are probably assembled in tetrahedral geometry.     

Arrangement of the single-stranded fragments in E. coli bacteriophage BF23 DNA

Bacteriophage BF23st(0) DNA was denatured with alkali and fractionated by agarose gel electrophoresis. Seven single-stranded fragments (designated Fragments I--VII) were identified as the major constituents of the phage DNA. The presence of several minor fragments which represent minor populations of the phage genome was also observed. The largest fragment (Fragment I) represents the intact strand of phage DNA, whereas the other fragments form the complementary strand. Thus, BF23st(0) DNA carries single-strand interruptions in only one strand. The arrangement of the major fragments in the nicked strand was determined by use of gamma-exonuclease and agarose gel electrophoresis. From the mode of action of this nuclease, and from the kinetics of release or disappearance of the fragments, the polarity of the fragments in BF23st(0) DNA was specified. In addition, the presence of two types of major phage populations differing in their composition of the fragments was demonstrated. One type has an additional nick (yielding Fragment IV and Fragment V) in a specific fragment (Fragment II) of other type.