Electrophoretically separated bone cell types from the foetal rat calvarium: A histochemical and biochemical study

Summary Isolated cells obtained from foetal rat bone (calvarium) by collagenase digestion can be separated into three subpopulations on the basis of surface charge by free flow electrophoresis. These subpopulations have been tentatively identified by numerical, biochemical and functional criteria and are believed to be composed of: (1) bone resorbing cell types, designated Peak I cells; (2) fibroblasts and loose connective tissue cells, designated Peak II cells; and (3) a mixture of osteoblasts and osteoprogenitor cell types, designated Peak III cells. the anatomical position of these subpopulations in the whole calvarium was determined by comparing the results of histochemical and morphological experiments with the results of biochemical experiments. It was found that Peak I cells are located predominantly on the ventral (endocranial) surface, Peak II cells in the connective tissue periosteal membranes and Peak III cells on the dorsal (ectocranial) surface and in the suture line areas. The response of these cell types to parathyroid hormone and calcitonin with regard to cAMP production and⁴⁵Ca release from devitalized bone is examined and indicates that cells from Peak I and Peak III both respond to parathyroid hormone but only the cells from Peak I respond to calcitonin.     

A study of acid phosphatase in mouse kidney using naphthol AS/BI phosphate as a substrate

Summary A kinetic study of mouse kidney acid phosphatase has been performed using an application of the histochemical method ofBurstone (1958a, b). The suitability of the use of naphthol AS/BI phosphate as a substrate for biochemical assays of acid phosphatase has been ascertained. However, the rate of inhibition of the enzyme by sodium molybdate and sodium fluoride suggests that naphthol AS/BI phosphate may represent a substrate for an acid phosphatase different from-glycerophosphatase.     

Indophenyl acetate and acetylcholinesterase: binding of a non-specific substrate on the margin of the active center.

1. Indophenyl acetate is a very poor substrate of eel or bovine acetylcholinesterase (acetylcholine hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.7), with a V less than 5% of that of phenyl acetate, but it is a labile ester and in imidazole buffer is hydrolyzed, non-enzymically, even faster than phenyl acetate. 2. Indophenyl acetate completely protects the enzymes against inhibition by diisopropylphosphorofluoridate but promotes inhibition by methanesulfonyl fluoride. 3. With either of these inhibitors the measured rate of inactivation of eel acetylcholinesterase is the same whether activity is determined with this poor substrate or with a good substrate, acetylthiocholine. With bovine enzyme the inactivation rate is 25% lower when assayed with the former substrate. However this preparation contains a minor enzyme component which is involved in hydrolysis of indophenyl acetate but not good substrates, and which is not readily inhibited. When this is taken into account the inactivation rates for bovine acetylcholinesterase, too, are found to be the same in either assay. These and other observations in the literature can be explained if indophenyl acetate, because of its size, cannot fully penetrate into the active center and is bound in adjoining non-polar regions of the protein. From this external position it makes only intermittent contact with the esteratic site. Hence it is slowly hydrolyzed and fails to protect the enzyme against methanesulfonyl fluoride, though it does protect, possibly sterically, against the larger inhibitor diisopropylphosphorofluoridate.     

The presence of a low molecular weight acid phosphatase in liver tissue that cannot be demonstrated with the histochemical substrate naphthol AS-BI phosphate

Summary Three distinct isoenzymes of acid phosphatase have been separated from extracts of liver tissue of rats by gel filtration. These isoenzymes have molecular weights of 180,000±35,000; 74,000±11,000 and 13,000±2,500. High molecular weight isoenzymes and a low molecular weight isoenzyme of acid phosphatase (molecular weight 13,000±2,100) were also present in extracts of normal human and mouse liver tissue, and of pathologically altered liver tissue of mice in which the activity of acid phosphatase was strongly increased as a result of intraperitoneal injections of dextran solutions. Activity of acid phosphatase was determined with three substrates. The isoenzymes showed different conversion rates for the three substrates. The high molecular weight isoenzymes split the substrates 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate, p-nitrophenyl phosphate and naphthol AS-BI phosphate. The activity was sensitive to the inhibitors fluoride and L(+)tartrate. In the pathologically altered liver tissue, which had stored dextran, the activity of these isoenzymes was strongly increased. The low molecular weight isoenzyme split 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate and p-nitrophenyl phosphate but not naphthol AS-BI phosphate. Therefore this isoenzyme cannot be demonstrated with histochemical techniques using the substrate naphthol AS-BI phosphate. In contrast to the activity of the high molecular isoenzymes the activity of the low molecular isoenzyme was not changed in the pathologically altered liver tissue of mice and was not sensitive to the inhibitors fluoride and L(+)tartrate.This study was supported by a grant from the Prinses Beatrix Fonds, s'Gravenhage     

Structural insights into the substrate specificity of two esterases from the thermophilic Rhizomucor miehei

Two hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) family esterases (RmEstA and RmEstB) from the thermophilic fungus Rhizomucor miehei, exhibiting distinct substrate specificity, have been recently reported to show great potential in industrial applications. In this study, the crystal structures of RmEstA and RmEstB were determined at 2.15 Å and 2.43 Å resolutions, respectively. The structures of RmEstA and RmEstB showed two distinctive domains, a catalytic domain and a cap domain, with the classical α/β-hydrolase fold. Catalytic triads consisting of residues Ser161, Asp262, and His292 in RmEstA, and Ser164, Asp261, and His291 in RmEstB were found in the respective canonical positions. Structural comparison of RmEstA and RmEstB revealed that their distinct substrate specificity might be attributed to their different substrate-binding pockets. The aromatic amino acids Phe222 and Trp92, located in the center of the substrate-binding pocket of RmEstB, blocked this pocket, thus narrowing its catalytic range for substrates (C2–C8). Two mutants (F222A and W92F in RmEstB) showing higher catalytic activity toward long-chain substrates further confirmed the hypothesized interference. This is the first report of HSL family esterase structures from filamentous fungi.jlr The information on structure-function relationships could open important avenues of exploration for further industrial applications of esterases.     

A histochemical study of the circumtesticular Leydig cells of a teiid lizard, Cnemidophorus tigris

Several oxidative enzymes in the testis of the teiid lizard Cnemidophorus tigris were studied histochemically. The cells of the circumtesticular sheath (Leydig cell tunic) are functionally equivalent to Leydig cells of the interstitium on the basis of similar histochemical reactions for the five enzyme systems studied. Both groups of cells were positive for 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, NADH diaphorase, NADPH diaphorase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. These results support the hypothesis that the circumtesticular sheath has endocrine function as indicated by its vascularity and its ability to catalyze histochemical reactions involving steroid biosynthesis.     

Seasonal variation of xanthine oxidoreductase activity in the digestive gland cells of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis: a biochemical, histochemical and immunochemical study

The activity and the tissue distribution of the oxygen radical producing enzyme xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) were measured in the digestive gland of the common marine mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis Lmk along an annual cycle. No xanthine oxidase (XOX) activity could be measured, the enzyme only displaying xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) activity in all the cases. This is interpreted as a mechanism to avoid the harmful effects of the oxygen radicals that would be produced by XOX during periods following anoxic conditions at low tide. The highest XDH activities coincided with the late spring/early summer months, the activity maxima being recorded from May to July. Histochemically XOR activity was very pronounced in duct and stomach epithelial cells as well as in the surrounding connective tissue and hemolymph vessels, the activity increasing towards the summer months. These seasonal variations in XDH or XOR activities are possibly linked to hormonal changes governing the reproductive cycle and to changes in food availability. The localization of the protein in the connective tissue lining the hemolymph vessels was confirmed immunohistochemically using a polyclonal antibody against rat liver protein that cross-reacted specifically with a polypeptide of 150 kDa of molecular mass in homogenates of the digestive gland. This polypeptide was linked to cytosolic fractions isolated by differential centrifugation from mussel digestive glands. In paraffin sections the antibody labeled the digestive cells of digestive tubules, as well as the connective tissue surrounding the hemolymph vessels, gonadal follicles, digestive epithelia and certain protozoan parasites. Taken together our results suggest that in the digestive gland of bivalve molluscs XOR is involved in the metabolism of purines and in the scavenging of oxygen free radicals.