Effect of agents affecting water structure on the uptake of saccharides by agar and polyacrylamide gels

Uptake of D -xylose, D -glucose, lactose, and dextran 10 was studied in 3% and 12.5% polyacrylamide gels in the presence of 2 M LiCl, 2 M NaCl, 2 M KCl, 2 M RbCl, 2 M CsCl, 2 M MgCl₂, 2 M CaCl₂, 1 M NaF, 1 M NaI, 0.5 M guanidine thiocyanate, 0.5 M guanidine sulphate, and 0.5 M N,N′-diethylurea. With the exception of N,N′-diethylurea and, in some cases, LiCl, which had an accelerating effect, the compounds retarded considerably the uptake of saccharides by agar gel but had only a slight effect in polyacrylamide. The nature of the gel is thus of primary importance in interactions of this type. According to the magnitude of their effect on saccharide uptake, the salts used were arranged into several series. An attempt was made to correlate the effects of individual salts with their hydration properties. The strongest effect was found to be exerted by KCl, RbCl, and CsCl, i.e., by chlorides of cations possessing negative hydration shells.     

Electroporation: parameters affecting transfer of DNA into mammalian cells

Electroporation, the reversible breakdown of cell membranes caused by a high-voltage discharge, is a rapid, simple, and efficient method for introducing DNA into mammalian cells. An instrument for electroporation which permits the high-voltage discharge waveform to be varied with respect to rise time, peak voltage, and fall time is described. The uptake and expression of SV40 DNA following electroporation of two cell types, a human carcinoma-derived cell line, HEp-2, and a human lymphoblastoid cell line, 721, depended on the peak voltage and the fall time of the voltage discharge. The electronic parameters which produced optimum DNA transfer, however, differed for the two cell types. DNA as large as 150 kb was introduced into cells by electroporation. Cells can be electroporated in either phosphate-buffered saline or culture medium containing fetal bovine serum, and the efficiency of DNA transfer does not vary with cell densities from 10(6) to 2 X 10(7)/0.5 ml. Exposing the cells to multiple voltage discharges did not improve DNA transfer. DNA has been introduced by electroporation into all cell types tested, including human carcinoma-derived cell lines, human lymphoblastoid cell lines, human fibroblast strains, and primary human lymphocytes. To obtain maximal DNA transfer by this method, however, one must optimize the peak voltage and fall time of the discharge waveform for each cell type.     

Structural parameters affecting the kinetics of RNA hairpin formation

There is little experimental knowledge on the sequence dependent rate of hairpin formation in RNA. We have therefore designed RNA sequences that can fold into either of two mutually exclusive hairpins and have determined the ratio of folding of the two conformations, using structure probing. This folding ratio reflects their respective folding rates. Changing one of the two loop sequences from a purine- to a pyrimidine-rich loop did increase its folding rate, which corresponds well with similar observations in DNA hairpins. However, neither changing one of the loops from a regular non-GNRA tetra-loop into a stable GNRA tetra-loop, nor increasing the loop size from 4 to 6 nt did affect the folding rate. The folding kinetics of these RNAs have also been simulated with the program ‘Kinfold’. These simulations were in agreement with the experimental results if the additional stabilization energies for stable tetra-loops were not taken into account. Despite the high stability of the stable tetra-loops, they apparently do not affect folding kinetics of these RNA hairpins. These results show that it is possible to experimentally determine relative folding rates of hairpins and to use these data to improve the computer-assisted simulation of the folding kinetics of stem–loop structures.     

Factors affecting the acrosome reaction in human spermatozoa

Large pieces of human cumulus oophorus were exposed for 20-30 min to washed spermatozoa or to spermatozoa recovered after a swim-up procedure, and then fixed for electron microscopy. Spermatozoa of both populations penetrated deeply into the cumulus within that time, and none of 48 observed clearly had undergone an acrosome reaction (AR). As measured by fluorescence microscopy, an AR rate of 12% in spermatozoa obtained at 4 h following a swim-up increased to about 25% in samples incubated in culture dishes for approximately 20 h. However, this latter AR rate was no different in the presence or absence of a cumulus/oocyte complex, and was only moderately greater in 50% follicular fluid. Nor was it affected to any degree by the absence of calcium or by a low (26 degrees C) temperature, both of which are regulators of the physiological AR in other species. By contrast, a clear dose-related enhancement of the AR by the calcium ionophore A23187 was almost completely Ca2(+)-dependent. We conclude that the human cumulus oophorus does not rapidly induce an AR in spermatozoa capacitated in vitro and, unlike the situation in some other mammals, that washed human spermatozoa do not first require a period of capacitation in order to penetrate it. The results also point to the likelihood that ARs monitored in free-swimming human spermatozoa are for the most part spurious or artefactual, and they show that in-vitro AR rates in such populations do not parallel their fertilizing ability.     

Factors affecting the isopenicillin N synthetase reaction.

1. Isopenicillin N synthetase (IPNS) from Cephalosporium acremonium, which requires Fe2+ and O2 for activity, was highly purified for studies of factors affecting its conversion of delta-(L-alpha-aminoadipoyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine (LLD-ACV) into isopenicillin N (IPN). EDTA was used to quench the reaction by removal of Fe2+. 2. IPNS was inactivated during the course of the conversion of LLD-ACV into IPN, although it was relatively stable in the absence of LLD-ACV under otherwise similar conditions. In the presence of GSH and ascorbate each IPNS molecule carried out about 200 catalytic events before inactivation, but the turnover number was decreased 5-fold in the absence of ascorbate. 3. After trace metal ions had been removed from IPNS and other components of the reaction mixture by Chelex-100 resin, only about 10 microM-Fe2+ was required for maximum stimulation. Several other transition-metal ions were inhibitors of the enzyme. 4. Both dithiothreitol (DTT) and GSH stimulated IPNS activity, but GSH, unlike DTT, was not rapidly oxidized in the presence of O2 and Fe2+. 5. IPNS was rapidly inhibited by the thiol-blocking reagents N-ethylmaleimide and 2,2'- and 4,4'-dipyridyl disulphide, but not by 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) in the same concentration. Inhibition by 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide could be reversed by DTT.     

Action potential parameters affecting excitation-contraction coupling

In quantifying type B potentiation effects, given earlier merely qualitatively, it is found that Zn²⁺, 1—50 µM, causes increases in action potential duration, twitch tension, and twitch contraction period time, which are all directly proportional to the log of the concentration. Hence, the duration of the action potential, i.e. the magnitude of its mechanically effective period, is a causal factor quantitatively determining the degree of mechanical activation in the isometric twitch. In higher concentrations of Zn²⁺ up to 1000 µM, the spike duration and the contraction time continue to increase but the twitch tension is disproportionately smaller, evidently because the high zinc (500—1000 µM) raises the mechanical threshold of excitation-contraction (E—C) coupling and reduces the intrinsic strength of the contractile system. Eserine (1.5 mM) and also high Zn²⁺ not only cause type B potentiation effects, but also slow the rise of the spike, thus causing retardation of the very onset of tension production, which is even greater for high Zn²⁺ because of the raised mechanical threshold. This retardation is then succeeded by the faster tension output characteristic of type B potentiation resulting from spike prolongation. Thus, the changes in the consecutive, rising and falling phases of the action potential explicitly register their separate effects in the respective very earliest and directly following periods of twitch output; i.e., each phase of the action potential produces its own mechanical "transform." These transforms, and other effects, suggest that the release of activator Ca²⁺ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum during E—C coupling can be graded in both the rate and the total amount of the release.     

Influence of agar on in vitro cultures: I. Physicochemical properties of agar and agar gelled media

Summary The success of in vitro culture is related to several factors. Beside factors associated with the plant material or the medium composition, the physicochemical characteristics of gelled media can play an important role. In this paper, the latter aspect has been considered and the nature of agar powders has been investigated. Moreover, the process of gel formation for three different media and the availability of water and minerals for the corresponding gels have been studied. Analysis of agar powders showed that they can contain different amounts of impurities and the dialysis of these powders suggested that the impurities might be available to the tissues. Thermal analysis on the hygroscopic properties of the agar brands suggest the importance of these data to obtain comparable and reproducible gelled media. The study on the process of formation of gelled media indicates that there is a critical temperature T_ss which can be used to control the gel processing. In fact, at this temperature, agar powders in water transform into a sol status through a rapid shift of electrical conductivity. Water potential of the medium, water loss from gels over the culture period, and the ease of releasing liquid from gels under pressure were shown to be different for different agar brands. A different availability of water and minerals in Murashige and Skoog medium was deduced from the gels prepared with three agar brands (Oxoid, Merck, and Roth).     

Cell surface lectin array: parameters affecting cell glycan signature

Among the “omics”, glycomics is one of the most complex fields and needs complementary strategies of analysis to decipher the “glycan dictionary”. As an alternative method, which has developed since the beginning of the 21st century, lectin array technology could generate relevant information related to glycan motifs, accessibility and a number of other valuable insights from molecules (purified and non-purified) or cells. Based on a cell line model, this study deals with the key parameters that influence the whole cell surface glycan interaction with lectin arrays and the consequences on the interpretation and reliability of the results. The comparison between the adherent and suspension forms of Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, showed respective glycan signatures, which could be inhibited specifically by neoglycoproteins. The modifications of the respective glycan signatures were also revealed according to the detachment modes and cell growth conditions. Finally the power of lectin array technology was highlighted by the possibility of selecting and characterizing a specific clone from the mother cell line, based on the slight difference determination in the respective glycan signatures.     

Yeast MEK-dependent signal transduction: response thresholds and parameters affecting fidelity.

Ste7p and Mkk1p are MEK (MAPK/ERK kinase) family members that function in the mating and cell integrity signal transduction pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We selected STE7 and MKK1 mutations that stimulated their respective pathways in the absence of an inductive signal. Strikingly, serine-to-proline substitutions at analogous positions in Ste7p (position 368) and Mkk1p (position 386) were recovered by independent genetic screens. Such an outcome suggests that this substitution in other MEKs would exhibit similar properties. The Ste7p-P368 variant has higher basal enzymatic activity than Ste7p but still requires induction to reach full activation. The higher activity associated with Ste7p-P368 allows it to compensate for defects in the cell integrity pathway, but it does so only when it is overproduced or when Ste5p is missing. This behavior suggests that Ste5p, which has been proposed to be a tether for the kinases in the mating pathway, contributes to Ste7p specificity.     

New method of detection of certain bacterial oxidoreductases and transaminases by the Indicator reaction on agar

A method for detection of the following enzymes is described: glutamate oxalacetate transaminase (L-aspartate: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase, 2. 6. 1. 1), lactate dehydrogenase (L-lactate: NAD oxidoreductase, 1. 1. 1. 27) and malate dehydrogenase (L-malate: NAD oxido-reductase, 1. 1. 1. 37), diffused from bacterial suspensions into agar, by means of a “sandwich” agar detector layer containing the specific substrates. The principle of the reaction: reduced nicotinamide-dinucleotide ? nicotinamide-adenine-dinucleotide (NADH₂?NAD) was used, in which fluorescence of NADH₂ (in u. v. light) disappears proportionately to the activity of the test enzyme in its diffusion zone.     

Determination of the parameters affecting electrospun chitosan fiber size distribution and morphology

The production of chitosan nanofiber mats by electrospinning presents serious difficulties due to the lack of suitable solvents and the strong influence of processing parameters on the fiber properties. Two are the main problems to be solved: to control the properties of the solution in order to obtain large area uniform fiber mats by having a stable flow rate and to avoid sparks during the process, damaging the fiber mats. In this work chitosan electrospun mats have been prepared form solutions of trifluoroacetic acid/dichloromethane mixtures, allowing solving the aforementioned problems. Mats with uniform fibers of submicron diameters without beads were obtained. Further, the influence of the different solution and process parameters on the mean fiber diameter and on the width of the distribution of the fiber sizes has been assessed. Solvent composition, needle diameter, applied voltage and traveling distance were the parameters considered in this study.