Mechanistic Insights into Glucan Phosphatase Activity against Polyglucan Substrates

Glucan phosphatases are central to the regulation of starch and glycogen metabolism. Plants contain two known glucan phosphatases, Starch EXcess4 (SEX4) and Like Sex Four2 (LSF2), which dephosphorylate starch. Starch is water-insoluble and reversible phosphorylation solubilizes its outer surface allowing processive degradation. Vertebrates contain a single known glucan phosphatase, laforin, that dephosphorylates glycogen. In the absence of laforin, water-soluble glycogen becomes insoluble, leading to the neurodegenerative disorder Lafora Disease. Because of their essential role in starch and glycogen metabolism glucan phosphatases are of significant interest, yet a comparative analysis of their activities against diverse glucan substrates has not been established. We identify active site residues required for specific glucan dephosphorylation, defining a glucan phosphatase signature motif (CζAGΨGR) in the active site loop. We further explore the basis for phosphate position-specific activity of these enzymes and determine that their diverse phosphate position-specific activity is governed by the phosphatase domain. In addition, we find key differences in glucan phosphatase activity toward soluble and insoluble polyglucan substrates, resulting from the participation of ancillary glucan-binding domains. Together, these data provide fundamental insights into the specific activity of glucan phosphatases against diverse polyglucan substrates.     

Detecting Enzymatic Activity in Cells Using Fluorogenic Substrates

Fluorogenic substrates can detect enzymatic activity associated with cells. It is difficult, however, to detect activity within a single cell or in an organelle since hydrolytic substrates yield products that rapidly leak from the cell. Several new solutions are presented including trapping the fluorescent product in membranes, in cell organelles, or as a glutathione conjugate. Novel substrates also are described that directly yield highly fluorescent precipitates at the site of enzymatic activity. These can be used for detecting endogenous activity in cells or for enzyme-amplified histochemical detection. Some of these substrates can be used in live cells.     

Ultrastructural Localization of Acid Phosphatase Activity in Soybean Cotyledon Cells

In the cotyledon cells of the developing seeds (35～50 d after flowering) and the early germinating seeds (4 ～ 8 d after sowing) of soybean (Glycine max L. ), acid phosphatase (APase) activity was mainly deposited in the protein bodies (PB) and in endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In addition, in the early developing cotylendon cells, the prominent reaction product of APase activity was seen along the plasma membrane, in the cell wall and within the vesicles in the cytoplasm adjancent to the plasma membrane. And some of the vesicles seemed to be fused with the plasma membrane.     

A Quantitative Histochemical Study of Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in Isolated Rat Duodenal Epithelial Cells

A simple separation method enabling the quantification of alkaline phosphatase activity in unfixed, isolated, individual, duodenal epithelial cells has been presented. The activity of intestinal brush border-bound alkaline phosphatase has been demonstrated using naphthol AS-BI phosphate as a substrate and hexazotized New Fuchsin as a simultaneous coupling agent. The amount of final reaction product, as measured cytophotometrically, increases linearly with incubation time (up to 10 min) and with substrate concentration (up to 0.4 mM). Maximum enzyme activity was obtained at pH 8.9. Variation of the substrate concentration revealed the kinetic parameters for naphthol AS-BI phosphate as K_m = 0.17 ± 0.015 and V_max = 13.9 ± 1.38. The specificity of the enzyme reaction was confirmed by the complete inhibition of the enzyme activity in the presence of l-cysteine (10 mm) and 80% inhibition with L - phenylalanine (30 mM). Comparison of alkaline phosphatase activity in 8-m cryostat sections (beginning at the tip and proceeding to the cryptal part) along the villus axis, with the activity of individual cells obtained by successive separation, revealed similar values of the percentage quotient derived from the entire activities in these two different methods. This suggests that the presented separation procedure gives rise to isolation of the respective cells from the corresponding areas of the villus. Finally, the isolated cells can be used as a valuable tool for the quantitative analysis of alkaline phosphatase activity along the length of the villus.     

Direct Image-Based Enumeration of Clostridium phytofermentans Cells on Insoluble Plant Biomass Growth Substrates

A dual-fluorescent-dye protocol to visualize and quantify Clostridium phytofermentans ISDg (ATCC 700394) cells growing on insoluble cellulosic substrates was developed by combining calcofluor white staining of the growth substrate with cell staining using the nucleic acid dye Syto 9. Cell growth, cell substrate attachment, and fermentation product formation were investigated in cultures containing either Whatman no. 1 filter paper, wild-type Sorghum bicolor, or a reduced-lignin S. bicolor double mutant (bmr-6 bmr-12 double mutant) as the growth substrate. After 3 days of growth, cell numbers in cultures grown on filter paper as the substrate were 6.0- and 2.2-fold higher than cell numbers in cultures with wild-type sorghum and double mutant sorghum, respectively. However, cells produced more ethanol per cell when grown with either sorghum substrate than with filter paper as the substrate. Ethanol yields of cultures were significantly higher with double mutant sorghum than with wild-type sorghum or filter paper as the substrate. Moreover, ethanol production correlated with cell attachment in sorghum cultures: 90% of cells were directly attached to the double mutant sorghum substrate, while only 76% of cells were attached to wild-type sorghum substrate. With filter paper as the growth substrate, ethanol production was correlated with cell number; however, with either wild-type or mutant sorghum, ethanol production did not correlate with cell number, suggesting that only a portion of the microbial cell population was active during growth on sorghum. The dual-staining procedure described here may be used to visualize and enumerate cells directly on insoluble cellulosic substrates, enabling in-depth studies of interactions of microbes with plant biomass.     

Phosphatase Activity of Anaerobic Organisms

Anaerobic organisms were tested for phosphatase activity in different pH ranges. Several groups of organisms displayed characteristic patterns. Bacteroides fragilis, B. melaninogenicus, and B. ruminicola produced phosphatase with strongest activity at pH 8.6. Fusobacterium mortiferum was the only species of this genus to show strong hydrolysis. The enzyme was active in both acid and alkaline ranges. The activity of gram-positive organisms was variable, the most active groups being Clostridium perfringens, Peptostreptococcus intermedius, P. micros, and Peptococcus constellatus. The incorporation of phosphatase activity into the identification scheme of anaerobes seems feasible. There was a correlation of hydrolysis with several important pathogens.     

小鼠全血中谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶活力的微量测定法

报道了用分光光度计法直接测定小鼠全血中谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶GSH-PX活力的方法.取血样10μl,423nm为测定波长,三氯醋酸为蛋白沉淀剂,在pH6.5,3min的酶反应条件下,反应剩余的谷胱甘肽和其与DTNB试剂反应生成的颜色产物成线性相关.该法灵敏度高,重复性好,所需仪器简单,可成为科研及临床研究工作中分析全血中GSH-PX的重要方法之一     

水稻胚乳细胞质膜内陷的超微结构和磷酸酶的细胞化学定位

对生长分化期水稻胚乳细胞的质膜内陷进行了超微结构和磷酸酶的细胞化学研究。结果表明 ,胚乳细胞内的小泡、内质网常与胞间连丝相连 ;质膜形态多变 ,功能活跃 ,由局部起伏的波纹状发展成明显内陷 ,深浅不一 ,多呈袋状 ,袋中包含着大小不一的泡状物 ;有些内陷脱离质膜成为胞质中的囊泡 ,表现出活跃的内吞现象。除细胞间隙中含有圆球状的内含物外 ,在质膜内陷和囊泡中常含有大量的内含物。H ATP酶定位结果显示 ,质膜及其邻近的泡状物周围有酶的分布 ;而酸性磷酸酶定位在液泡、胞间隙和其中的泡状内含物周围 ;在质膜及其内陷形成的囊泡中有G6P酶的分布。这些结果表明胞间隙和质膜内陷在物质的运输中可能起着重要作用     

Effect of Inorganic Phosphate on the Extracellular Acid Phosphatase Activity of Tobacco Cells Cultured in vitro

Acid phosphatase activity in culture medium of tobacco cells growing in suspension increased with the age of the culture from which the medium was obtained. The increase in the activity was accelerated by omitting inorganic phosphate from nutrient medium, and it was depressed by addition of inorganic phosphate or cycloheximide. Amylase and β-galactosidase activities were not induced by the omission of inorganic phosphate. It was concluded that derepression of acid phosphatase synthesis was involved in the increase in the extracellular acid phosphatase activity upon inorganic phosphate depletion.     

Differentiating Intracellular from Extracellular Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in Soil by Sonication

Differentiating intracellular from extracellular enzyme activity is important in soil enzymology, but not easy. Here, we report on an adjusted sonication method for the separation of intracellular from extracellular phosphatase activity in soil. Under optimal sonication conditions [soil:water ratio  =  1/8 (w/v) and power density  =  15 watt ml^-1], the activity of alkaline phosphomonoesterase (phosphatase) in a Haplic Cambisol soil increased with sonication time in two distinct steps. A first plateau of enzyme activity was reached between 60 and 100 s, and a second higher plateau after 300 s. We also found that sonication for 100 s under optimal conditions activated most (about 80%) of the alkaline phosphatase that was added to an autoclaved soil, while total bacteria number was not affected. Sonication for 300 s reduced the total bacteria number by three orders of magnitude but had no further effects on enzyme activity. Our results indicate that the first plateau of alkaline phosphatase activity was derived from extracellular enzymes attached to soil particles, and the second plateau to the combination of extracellular and intracellular enzymes after cell lysis. We conclude that our adjusted sonication method may be an alternative to the currently used physiological and chloroform-fumigation methods for differentiating intracellular from extracellular phosphatase activity in soil. Further testing is needed to find out whether this holds for other soil types.     

甲壳胺对HepG2细胞蛋白酪氨酸激酶和磷酸酶活性的影响

目的:初步探讨甲壳胺诱导人肝癌Hep G2细胞凋亡的信号转导机制。方法:采用酶联免疫法,动态检测甲壳胺作用于Hep G2细胞后,细胞膜相及胞浆内的蛋白酪氨酸激酶(PTK)及蛋白酪氨酸磷酸酶(PTP)活性的变化。结果:甲壳胺可以抑制Hep G2细胞内的PTK活性,并呈一定的浓度依赖性;甲壳胺作用Hep G2细胞后,随着PTK活性的减弱,PTP的活性也短暂下降。结论:甲壳胺诱导Hep G2细胞凋亡时,涉及到PTK的活性改变。观察到膜相蛋白中PTK的活性改变早于胞浆蛋白,提示可能存在一个信号的跨膜转运过程;同时伴有PTP的活性变化,可能反映了胞内蛋白酪氨酸残基的磷酸化与去磷酸化即时调节机制。     

Mg^2+介导底物亲和力的改变增加黍子过氧化物酶的磷酸酶活性

黍子过氧化物酶(proso millet peroxidase,PmPOD)具有磷酸酶活性,可以断裂DNA中磷酸二酯键及脱氧核糖核苷酸(dNMPs)中磷酸单酯键。在此反应过程中,Mg^2+显著增强PmPOD的磷酸酶活性,但其具体的机制尚不明确。本文采用紫外-可见分光光谱法和荧光光谱法,研究了以dNMPs为底物时,Mg^2+对PmPOD磷酸酶活性的影响,并对其反应机制进行了初步的探究。紫外-可见分光光度法结果表明:Mg^2+介导了PmPOD与底物的相互作用,但Mg^2+并未直接与PmPOD发生相互作用。荧光光谱进一步表明,在Mg^2+存在的情况下,dNMPs对PmPOD内源荧光淬灭方式发生变化,由动态淬灭转变为静态淬灭。同时还发现,dNMPs与PmPOD的结合常数Ka增加约2~10倍(与不存在Mg^2+条件相比),依次为:KadCMP>KadGMP>KadTMP>KadAMP。高效液相色谱表明,Mg^2+可增强PmPOD水解dNMPs的速率3~13倍,且水解速率VdCMP>VdGMP>VdTMP>VdAMP,与结合常数的变化一致。因此,我们得出结论,PmPOD发挥磷酸酶活性时,Mg^2+首先与dNMPs形成中间产物,这一中间产物更适合与PmPOD形成复合物,增大了底物dNMPs与PmPOD结合常数,进而加速了PmPOD水解dNMPs。本研究为Mg^2+在过氧化物酶催化DNA水解的机制提供了相关依据,为研究金属离子增强蛋白酶活性的机制提供了理论基础。     

Characterization of New Substrates Targeted By Yersinia Tyrosine Phosphatase YopH

YopH is an exceptionally active tyrosine phosphatase that is essential for virulence of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium causing plague. YopH breaks down signal transduction mechanisms in immune cells and inhibits the immune response. Only a few substrates for YopH have been characterized so far, for instance p130Cas and Fyb, but in view of YopH potency and the great number of proteins involved in signalling pathways it is quite likely that more proteins are substrates of this phosphatase. In this respect, we show here YopH interaction with several proteins not shown before, such as Gab1, Gab2, p85, and Vav and analyse the domains of YopH involved in these interactions. Furthermore, we show that Gab1, Gab2 and Vav are not dephosphorylated by YopH, in contrast to Fyb, Lck, or p85, which are readily dephosphorylated by the phosphatase. These data suggests that YopH might exert its actions by interacting with adaptors involved in signal transduction pathways, what allows the phosphatase to reach and dephosphorylate its susbstrates.     

Determination of Manganese Superoxide Dismutase Activity By Direct Spectrophotometry

A method to determine Mn-superoxide dismutase activity by measuring directly the rate of decay of O₂^- in a spectrophotometer, is described. Decay of O₂^- generated by KO₂ at pH 9.5, was monitored as the fall in absorbance (A_250nm-A_360nm). Mn-superoxide dismutase was determined as the activity of cyanide-resistant superoxide dismutase, calculated from the rate of O₂^- dismutation. Mn-superoxide dismutase could be determined in the presence of a 700 times higher Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase activity. The alkaline pH did not cause analytical problems. The assay was used to measure both Mn- and Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase activity in mitochondrial preparations. The assay had a detection limit of 2.8 ng/ml when Mn-superoxide dismutase from E. coli was used, and the between-day CV was 5.8%. The assay is an alternative to indirect methods for detecting superoxide dismutase activity.     

On the Activity of Alkaline Phosphatase in Intestinal Mucosa from Casein-fed Rats

A novel optical activity of lutein was studied in dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) solution by the measurement of circular dichroism and absorbance. The surfactant was found to bring about the circular dichroism activity of the lutein below the critical micelle concentration (CMC) in a different way from that by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). This phenomenon was interpreted by the card-pack model of the lutein aggregate in which lutein molecule was slightly shifted each other. The above optical activity abruptly became strong just before the CMC of DTAB. This seems to correspond to the transition from the polymeric aggregate of the lutein to the oligomeric one. Such an optical activity disappeared beyond the CMC on the incorporation of the lutein molecules into the surfactant micelles. The molar binding ratios of DTAB to the lutein were determined to be 130 to 210 on the basis of the lutein concentration dependence of the DTAB concentration showing the arbitrary ellipticity. These ratios were clearly larger than those for SDS. On the other hand, filtration measurement showed that the size of the lutein-DTAB complex was larger than 2 μm in diameter. These phenomena were discussed assuming the possible model of the aggregate as a comparative study of the anionic and cationic surfactants causing the novel optical activity of this aggregate.     

Ceramide 1-Phosphate Phosphatase Activity in Brain

Recent studies have implicated sphingolipids in a variety of intracellular signaling systems. The finding that a calcium-stimulated ceramide kinase copurifies with neurotransmitter-containing vesicles suggests that ceramide, or one of its metabolites, has a role in neurotransmitter release. As a step toward understanding the role of ceramide kinase in vesicle functioning, this study sought to determine the metabolic fate of the product, ceramide 1-phosphate. We report that ceramide 1-phosphate is not deacylated by brain ceramidases to produce sphingosine 1-phosphate. It is, however, the substrate for a phosphatase activity that we name ceramide 1-phosphate phosphatase (CPPase). Subcellular fractionation studies suggest that CPPase is found in the synaptic terminal and is associated with both synaptic vesicle and plasma membranes. Divalent cations, most notably calcium, inhibit CPPase activity although not at concentrations that activate ceramide kinase. The existence of both ceramide kinase and CPPase activities at the synapse suggests that ceramide 1-phosphate production regulates some aspect of synaptic vesicle functioning.     

凝集素法测定骨性碱性磷酸酶及临床应用

选用凝集素分离法测定骨性碱性磷酸酶（bone alkaline phosphatase,B-ALP）.分别对健康男女儿童123例和成人及老年66例,进行B-ALP和总ALP活性的测定.结果显示,在儿童骨生长阶段B-ALP水平随年龄增长而增高,到14～16岁时开始逐渐下降至成人水平,男女间增高和下降时间有所不同.同时对临床骨折病人60例测定以上项目,表现为B-ALP活性在骨折后一段时期内升高,提示骨形成活跃.粉碎性骨折两周后B-ALP活性有显著性差异,t=2.92, P＜0.01,而裂缝性骨折三周后出现显著性,t=5.14, P＜0.01.骨折病人自身比较,一周后出现显著性差异, t=3.51, P＜0.05.凝集素法操作简便、重复性好,高低浓度血清的批内、批间变异系数分别为6.12%、8.5%和6.4%、9.5%.是临床观察骨代谢情况的一项有用指标.     

Dissociation of Developing Slime Mold Cells Does Not Inhibit the Developmentally Regulated Rise in Alkaline Phosphatase Activity

The rise in alkaline phosphatase activity after the resumption of development of dissociated slime mold cells is comparable to that found in non-dissociated aggregates.     

PTEN Increases Autophagy and Inhibits the Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway in Glioma Cells Independently of its Lipid Phosphatase Activity

Two major mechanisms of intracellular protein degradation, autophagy and the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, operate in mammalian cells. PTEN, which is frequently mutated in glioblastomas, is a tumor suppressor gene that encodes a dual specificity phosphatase that antagonizes the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase class I/AKT/mTOR pathway, which is a key regulator of autophagy. Here, we investigated in U87MG human glioma cells the role of PTEN in the regulation of autophagy and the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, because both are functionally linked and are relevant in cancer progression. Since U87MG glioma cells lack a functional PTEN, we used stable clones that express, under the control of a tetracycline-inducible system (Tet-on), wild-type PTEN and two of its mutants, G129E-PTEN and C124S-PTEN, which, respectively, lack the lipid phosphatase activity only and both the lipid and the protein phosphatase activities of this protein. Expression of PTEN in U87MG glioma cells decreased proteasome activity and also reduced protein ubiquitination. On the contrary, expression of PTEN increased the autophagic flux and the lysosomal mass. Interestingly, and although PTEN negatively regulates the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase class I/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway by its lipid phosphatase activity, both effects in U87MG cells were independent of this activity. These results suggest a new mTOR-independent signaling pathway by which PTEN can regulate in opposite directions the main mechanisms of intracellular protein degradation.