The kinetic of degradation of chondroitin of sulphates and hyaluronic acid by chondroitinase form Proteus vulgaris.

Km and Vmax. were determined for the degradation by chondroitinase of chondroitin 4-sulphate, 4-sulphate-proteoglycna, chondroitin 6-sulphate, dermatan sulphate and hyaluronic acid. Degradation of chondroitin 4-sulphate was inhibited by hyaluronic acid but not by keratan sulphate. The results are discussed with regard to the use to the use of chondroitinase as a sleective reagent for the degradation of tissue glycosaminoglycans.     

Sequential synthesis of chondroitin oligosaccharides by immobilized chondroitin polymerase mutants

Escherichia coli strain K4 expresses a chondroitin (CH)-polymerizing enzyme (K4CP) that contains two glycosyltransferase active domains. K4CP alternately transfers glucuronic acid (GlcA) and N-acetyl-galactosamine (GalNAc) residues using UDP-GlcA and UDP-GalNAc donors to the nonreducing end of a CH chain acceptor. Here we generated two K4CP point mutants substituted at the UDP-sugar binding motif (DXD) in the glycosyltransferase active domains, which showed either glycosyltransferase activity of the intact domain and retained comparable activity after immobilization onto agarose beads. The mutant enzyme-immobilized beads exhibited an addition of GlcA or GalNAc to GalNAc or GlcA residue at the nonreducing end of CH oligosaccharides and sequentially elongated pyridylamine-conjugated CH (PA-CH) chain by the alternate use. The sequential elongation up to 16-mer was successfully achieved as assessed by fluorescent detection on a gel filtration chromatography and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and MALDI potential lift tandem TOF mass spectrometry (MALDI-LIFT-TOF/TOF MS/MS) analyses in the negative reflection mode. This method provides exactly defined CH oligosaccharide derivatives, which are useful for studies on glycosaminoglycan functions.     

Crystal structure of Proteus vulgaris chondroitin sulfate ABC lyase I at 1.9A resolution

Chondroitin Sulfate ABC lyase I from Proteus vulgaris is an endolytic, broad-specificity glycosaminoglycan lyase, which degrades chondroitin, chondroitin-4-sulfate, dermatan sulfate, chondroitin-6-sulfate, and hyaluronan by beta-elimination of 1,4-hexosaminidic bond to unsaturated disaccharides and tetrasaccharides. Its structure revealed three domains. The N-terminal domain has a fold similar to that of carbohydrate-binding domains of xylanases and some lectins, the middle and C-terminal domains are similar to the structures of the two-domain chondroitin lyase AC and bacterial hyaluronidases. Although the middle domain shows a very low level of sequence identity with the catalytic domains of chondroitinase AC and hyaluronidase, the residues implicated in catalysis of the latter enzymes are present in chondroitinase ABC I. The substrate-binding site in chondroitinase ABC I is in a wide-open cleft, consistent with the endolytic action pattern of this enzyme. The tryptophan residues crucial for substrate binding in chondroitinase AC and hyaluronidases are lacking in chondroitinase ABC I. The structure of chondroitinase ABC I provides a framework for probing specific functions of active-site residues for understanding the remarkably broad specificity of this enzyme and perhaps engineering a desired specificity. The electron density map showed clearly that the deposited DNA sequence for residues 495-530 of chondroitin ABC lyase I, the segment containing two putative active-site residues, contains a frame-shift error resulting in an incorrectly translated amino acid sequence.     

Investigation of hydrophobicity of Proteus vulgaris strains and ability of Proteus vulgaris and Proteus penneri strains to penetrate bladder membrane HCV T-29 cells

Proteus bacilli play a particularly important role in urinary tract infections (UTI). Fimbriae and adherence ability and hemolysins production (HpmA, HlyA) are one of the factors of pathogenicity of these bacteria. In this paper we describe the invasion of HCV T-29 transitional bladder urothelial cells carcinoma strains of P. penneri, as well as P. vulgaris strains belonging to different serogroups. The cytotoxic effect was observed at 8 hour of incubation of the tested cells with P. vulgaris O21 and the same effect (complete lysis) at 6 hours by P. vulgaris O4 (this strain manifests maximal activity in the production of HlyA hemolysin). P. penneri strains, produce different types of fimbriae, expressed similar bacterial invasiveness. The hydrophobic properties of 25 P. vulgaris strains were also tested and only 3 strains occur to have hydrophobic cell surface.     

Ultrastructural characteristics of Proteus vulgaris and Proteus mirabilis cells differing in the capacity for swarming

Specific differences in the structure of colonies and the location of microbial cells in colonies, characteristic for aggregating and nonaggregating genetically related pairs of P. vulgaris and P. mirabilis strains, have been demonstrated by means of transmission and scanning electron microscopy. In calculating the number of flagellae per 100 outlines of microbial bodies revealed in negatively stained preparations, the fact that both aggregating and nonaggregating bacteria possess practically the same number of flagellae, on the average 4-8 flagellae per microbial cell outline, has been established. This fact indicates that the presence of flagellae in microbial cells is unrelated to their capacity for swarming.     

Species-specific detection of Proteus vulgaris and Proteus mirabilis by the polymerase chain reaction

Sets of primers for the species-specific detection of P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were developed. As targets for these primers beta-lactamase and 16S rRNA gene fragments were chosen on the basis of the multiple leveling of the sequences of the DNA of all known P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris isolates. For differential detection oligonucleotides were selected in such a way that primers, specific for P. vulgaris, contained the non-paired nucleotide for P. mirabilis isolate at the 3'-end, and all other nucleotides were complementary to the beta-lactamase gene fragment. Primers, specific for gene 16S rRNA of P. mirabilis, contained the non-paired nucleotide for P. vulgaris isolates at the 3'-end. Standard PCR was carried out for 6 P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris strains. The use of PCR species-specific primers to P. vulgaris DNA made it possible to amplify the DNA fragment of the expected length only for P. vulgaris isolates, while the result of PCR for P. mirabilis was negative. PCR with primers specific to P. mirabilis permitted the detection of amplicon sized 101 nucleotides pairs only for P. mirabilis strains. These primers were optimized so as to use them in the specific differentiation of closely related P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris species by multiplex PCR. Genus-specific primers permitted the detection of bacterial gyrB gene of the genus Proteus were developed also.     

乳粉中普通变形杆菌和奇异变形杆菌复合PCR-DHPLC检测技术的建立

应用复合PCR结合变性高效液相色谱(DHPLC)技术,建立乳粉中普通变形杆菌和奇异变形杆菌的高通量检测方法。根据普通变形杆菌的blaA和blaB基因及奇异变形杆菌的ureR基因序列分别设计特异性引物,复合PCR扩增的产物经DHPLC技术进行快速检测,并以37株参考菌株做特异性试验。试验结果表明,该方法具有很好的特异性,经复合PCR-DHPLC可同时检测乳粉中普通变形杆菌和奇异变形杆菌。该方法可以快速、准确、高通量检测普通变形杆菌和奇异变形杆菌,是乳粉中致病菌高通量检测的新技术。     

Isolation of Phenylalanine-Negative Proteus vulgaris

Three phenylalanine-negative Proteus vulgaris strains were isolated from three different sources. The significance of these Proteus strains has not been fully recognized.