Phase diagrams of monoacylated amide-linked disaccharide glycolipids

A series of monoacylated glycolipids with even-numbered acyl chain lengths ranging from saturated C11 to C15 and an unsaturated C17:1 fatty acid connected by an amide in linkage to the disaccharide head groups maltose, melibiose and lactose were synthesized. The structural polymorphism of the glycolipids was investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry for the detection of the gel to liquid-crystalline acyl chain melting behaviour and small-angle X-ray scattering for the elucidation of the physical structure of the lipid aggregates. Also, the phase morphology was studied by polarizing microscopy in contact preparations. The data clearly show the existence of uni- and multilamellar structures. Although only one acyl chain is present, there is no evidence for the existence of micelles - of spherical or of cylindrical (H_I) type - or of interdigitated phases. The preference for lamellar phases seems to be correlated with the intrinsic high conformational order of the amide linkage of these compounds which inhibits the formation of highly curved structures.     

Lectin purification on affinity columns containing reductively aminated disaccharides.

A method is described for isolating lectins in pure form and quantitative yield in a single step by affinity chromatography on aminoethyl polyacrylamide gels containing reductively aminated disaccharide residues. The affinity columns were prepared in two steps: (a) direct reductive amination of the disaccharide and aminoethyl gel with sodium cyanoborohydride in aqueous solution at pH 9; (b) N-acetylation of excess amino groups. Affinity columns prepared by reductive amination of lactose, melibiose, maltose, and di-N-acetylchitobiose were used to purify the following lectins: lactose, peanut, castor bean; melibiose, Bandeiraea simplicifolia; maltose, jack bean, common lentil; di-N-acetylchitobiose, wheat germ. These columns are extremely stable, have good flow rates, and high binding capacities.     

Structure and thermotropic properties of 1-stearoyl-2-acetyl-phosphatidylcholine bilayer membranes.

The structural and thermotropic properties of 1-stearoyl-2-acetyl-phosphatidylcholine (C(18):C(2)-PC) were studied as a function of hydration. A combination of differential scanning calorimetry and x-ray diffraction techniques have been used to investigate the phase behavior of C(18):C(2)-PC. At low hydration (e.g., 20% H2O), the differential scanning calorimetry heating curve shows a single reversible endothermic transition at 44.6 degrees C with transition enthalpy delta H = 6.4 kcal/mol. The x-ray diffraction pattern at -8 degrees C shows a lamellar structure with a small bilayer periodicity d = 46.3 A and two wide angle reflections at 4.3 and 3.95 A, characteristic of a tilted chain, L beta' bilayer gel structure. Above the main transition temperature, a liquid crystalline L alpha phase is observed with d = 53.3 A. Electron density profiles at 20% hydration suggest that C(18):C(2)-PC forms a fully interdigitated bilayer at -8 degrees C and a noninterdigitated, liquid crystalline phase above its transition temperature (T > Tm). Between 30 and 50% hydration, on heating C(18):C(2)-PC converts from a highly ordered, fully interdigitated gel phase (L beta') to a less ordered, interdigitated gel phase (L beta), which on further heating converts to a noninterdigitated liquid crystalline L alpha phase. However, the fully hydrated (> 60% H2O) C(18):C(2)-PC, after incubation at 0 degrees C, displays three endothermic transitions at 8.9 degrees C (transition I, delta H = 1.6 kcal/mol), 18.0 degrees C (transition II), and 20.1 degrees C (transition III, delta HII+III = 4.8 kcal/mol). X-ray diffraction at -8 degrees C again showed a lamellar gel phase (L beta') with a small periodicity d = 52.3 A. At 14 degrees C a less ordered, lamellar gel phase (L beta) is observed with d = 60.5 A. However, above the transition III, a broad, diffuse reflection is observed at approximately 39 A, consistent with the presence of a micellar phase. The following scheme is proposed for structural changes of fully hydrated C(18):C(2)-PC, occurring with temperature: L beta' (interdigitated)-->L beta (interdigitated)-->L alpha(noninterdigitated)-->Micelles. Thus, at low temperature C(18):C(2)-PC forms a bilayer gel phase (L beta') at all hydrations, whereas above the main transition temperature it forms a bilayer liquid crystalline phase L alpha at low hydrations and a micellar phase at high hydrations (> 60 wt% water).     

Comparisons of lipid dynamics and packing in fully interdigitated monoarachidoylphosphatidylcholine and non-interdigitated dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers: cross polarization/magic angle spinning 13C-NMR studies

13C-NMR spectra have been obtained at 50.3 MHz for monoarachidoylphosphatidylcholine (MAPC) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) dispersions from 25 degrees C to 55 degrees C and for DPPC polycrystals at 25 degrees C using the cross polarization/magic angle spinning technique. Differential scanning calorimetric studies on DPPC and MAPC dispersions show comparable lipid phase transitions with transition temperatures at 41 degrees C and 45 degrees C, respectively, and thus enable the comparison of thermal, structural and dynamic differences between these two systems at corresponding temperatures. Conformational-dependent 13C chemical shift studies on DPPC dispersions demonstrate not only the coexistence of the tilted gel (L beta') and liquid-crystalline (L alpha) phases in the rippled gel (P beta') phase, but also the presence of an intermediate third microscopic phase as evidenced by three resolvable peaks for omega - 1 methylene carbon signals at the temperature interval between Tp and Tm. By comparing chemical shifts of MAPC in the hydrocarbon chain region with those of DPPC at similar reduced temperatures, it can be concluded that the packings are perturbed markedly in the middle segment of the fatty acyl chain during the lamellar to micellar transition. However, terminal methylene and methyl groups of interdigitated MAPC lamellae were found to be more ordered than those of non-interdigitated DPPC bilayers in the gel state. Interestingly, the terminal methyl groups of MAPC in the micelles remain to be relatively ordered; in fact, they are more ordered than the corresponding acyl chain end of DPPC in the liquid-crystalline state. Analysis of data obtained from rotating frame proton spin-lattice relaxation measurements shows a highly mobile phosphocholine headgroup, a rigid carbonyl group and an ordered hydrocarbon chain for lamellar MAPC in the interdigitated state. Furthermore, results suggest that free rotations of the glycerol C2-C3 bond within MAPC molecules may occur in the interdigitated bilayer, whereas intramolecular exchange between two conformations of the glycerol backbone in DPPC become possible at temperatures close to the pretransition temperature. Without isotope enrichment, we conclude that high-resolution solid-state 13C-NMR is indeed a useful technique which can be employed to study the packing and dynamics of phospholipids.     

Structural preferences of dioleoyl glycolipids with mono- and disaccharide head groups

The structural preferences of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycerol glycolipids with glucose, galactose, maltose, and cellobiose as sugar head group were investigated under near physiological conditions with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and synchrotron radiation small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Whereas all glycolipids have a very high fluidity at temperatures above 0 degrees C, the mono- and disaccharide compounds differ considerably in their aggregate structures. The monosaccharide compounds adopt only inverted hexagonal (H(II)) structures in the temperature range 5-70 degrees C, while the disaccharide compounds adopt only multilamellar structures. Since these and similar glycolipids are frequently found in nature, these data should be of relevance for the function of their host cell membranes.     

Structure and thermotropic properties of hydrated 1-eicosyl-2-dodecyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1-dodecyl-2-eicosyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine bilayer membranes

The ether-linked phosphatidylcholines 1-eicosyl-2-dodecyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine (EDPC) and 1-dodecyl-2-eicosyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DEPC) have been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction. DSC of hydrated EDPC shows a single endothermic transition at 34.8 degrees C (delta H = 11.2 kcal/mol) after storage at -4 degrees C while DEPC shows three endothermic transitions at 7.7 and approximately 9.0 degrees C (combined delta H approximately 0.4 kcal/mol) and at 25.2 degrees C (delta H = 4.7 kcal/mol). Both the single transition of EDPC and the two higher temperature transitions of DEPC are reversible, while the approximately 7.7 degrees C transition of DEPC increases in enthalpy on low-temperature incubation. At 23 degrees C, X-ray diffraction of hydrated EDPC shows a sharp reflection at 4.2 A together with lamellar reflections corresponding to a bilayer periodicity, d = 56.2 A. Electron density profiles derived from swelling experiments show a phosphate-phosphate intrabilayer distance, dp-p, of 36 A at all hydrations. This, together with calculated lipid thickness and molecular area considerations, suggests an interdigitated, three chains per head group, bilayer gel phase, L beta*, with no hydrocarbon chain tilt. This is structurally analogous to the bilayer gel phase of hydrated 18:0/10:0 ester PC [McIntosh, T. J., Simon, S. A., Ellington, J. C., Jr., & Porter, N. A. (1984) Biochemistry 23, 4038]. In contrast, DEPC at -4 degrees C shows an L beta' bilayer gel phase with tilted hydrocarbon chains (d = 61.1 A). However, this transforms above 9 degrees C to an interdigitated, triple-chain, L beta* bilayer gel phase (identical with that of EDPC) with d = 56.6 A and a phosphate-phosphate distance of 36 A. Above their respective chain melting transitions, Tm, EDPC and DEPC exhibit liquid-crystalline L alpha bilayer phases with d = 64.5 and 65.0 A at 55 and 45 degrees C, respectively. The ability of both EDPC and DEPC to form triple-chain interdigitated gel-state bilayers suggests that the conformational inequivalence at the sn-1 and sn-2 positions is less pronounced in the ether-linked PCs compared to the ester-linked PCs, where only one of the positional isomers, e.g., 18:0/10:0 PC but not 10:0/18:0 PC, forms the triple-chain structure (J. Mattai, unpublished results). Thus, a different conformation around the glycerol is predicted for ether-linked PC compared to ester-linked PC.     

The kinetics of formation and structure of the low-temperature phase of 1-stearoyl-lysophosphatidylcholine

A combination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction have been used to study the kinetics of formation and the structure of the low-temperature phase of 1-stearoyl-lysophosphatidylcholine (18:0-lysoPC). For water contents greater than 40 weight %, DSC shows a sharp endothermic transition at 27 degrees C (delta H = 6.75 kcal/mol) corresponding to a low-temperature phase----micelle transition. This sharp transition is not reversible, but is regenerated in a time and temperature-dependent manner. For example, with incubation at 0 degrees C the maximum transition enthalpy (delta H = 6.75 kcal/mol) is generated in about 45 min after an initial slow nucleation process of approx. 20 min. The kinetics of formation of the low-temperature phase is accelerated at lower temperatures and may be related to the disruption of 18:0-lysoPC micelles by ice crystal formation. X-ray diffraction patterns of 18:0-lysoPC recorded at 10 degrees C over the hydration range 20-80% are characteristic of a lamellar gel phase with tilted hydrocarbon chains with the bilayer repeat distance increasing from 47.6 A at 20% hydration to a maximum of 59.4 A at 39% hydration. At this maximum hydration, approx. 19 molecules of water are bound per molecule of 18:0-lysoPC. Electron density profiles show a phosphate-phosphate distance of 30 A, indicating an interdigitated lamellar gel phase for 18:0-lysoPC at all hydration values. The angle of chain tilt is calculated to be between 20 and 30 degrees. For water contents greater than 40%, this interdigitated lamellar phase converts to the micellar phase at 27 degrees C in a kinetically fast process, while the reverse (micelle----interdigitated bilayer) transition is a kinetically slower process (see also Wu, W. and Huang, C. (1983) Biochemistry 22, 5068-5073).     

Effects of the local anesthetic tetracaine on the structural and dynamic properties of lipids in model membranes: a high-pressure Fourier transform infrared study

High-pressure Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to study the effects of a local anesthetic, tetracaine, on the structural and dynamic properties of lipids in model membranes. The model membrane systems studied were multilamellar aqueous dispersions of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) and 1,2-di-O-hexadecyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DHPC) in the absence and presence of a physiological concentration of cholesterol (30 mol %). The infrared spectra were measured at 28 degrees C in a diamond anvil cell as a function of pressure up to 25 kbar. The results indicate that the effects of tetracaine on the structure of pure DMPC bilayers in the gel state are dependent on the state of charge of the anesthetic. The uncharged tetracaine disorders the lipid acyl chains while the charged form induces the formation of an interdigitated gel phase. The presence of cholesterol in the latter system prevents the formation of the interdigitated phase, whereas in the former system it disorders the lipid acyl chains in the gel state. Moreover, it is shown that the addition of uncharged tetracaine to interdigitated DHPC bilayers does not alter the interdigitated state of the hydrocarbon chains.     

Structural polymorphism of hydrated monoacylated maltose glycolipids

The physico-chemical properties of three fully hydrated monoacyl maltoside glycolipids were investigated with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The different synthesized maltoside glycoconjugates vary in the length and saturation of the fatty acid moiety, whereas the constant head group region contains a beta-linked maltose with a OC(2)-NH spacer. The compounds with saturated acyl chains showed a complex pattern of temperature-dependent behaviour, regarding the adopted three-dimensional aggregate structure of the molecules and the main phase transition from the gel to liquid crystalline phase of the acyl chains. A substitution of the saturated acyl chain with an unsaturated acyl chain led to a complete change of the structural preferences, from a high ordered stacking of the bilayers to an unilamellar arrangement of completely disordered and fluid membranes. The presence of the NH group in the spacer, compared to the compounds lacking the NH group allows the formation of a hydrogen bonding network, which influences the observed phase properties. The results of these studies of the hydrated monoacylated maltose glycolipids are discussed in relation to the thermotropic phase properties of the pure compounds in the absence of water.     

Polymorphic phase behavior of platelet-activating factor.

Vibrational Raman and 31P NMR spectroscopic experiments have been performed as a function of temperature on aqueous dispersions of 1-0-octadecyl-2-acetoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, a chemically synthesized platelet-activating factor. In the temperature range of -7 to 30 degrees C, the C(18)/PAF-H2O system is shown, upon heating, to undergo two thermal phase transitions centered at 9.2 degrees and 18.4 degrees C. The low temperature transition, attributed to the interdigitated lamellar gel (II)----gel (I) phase transition, is characterized by the breakdown of large lamellar organizations into small, but aggregated, bilayer vesicles. The high-temperature transition corresponds to the interdigitated lamellar gel (I)----micellar transition. The molecular ordering and packing structure of C(18)/PAF in the two lamellar phases and phase transition regions are described. It appears that the interdigitated lamellar gel (I) phase is unique for C(18)/PAF dispersions when compared with the behavior of other chemically closely related phospholipids in excess water.     

Osmotic stress induces a phase transition from interdigitated gel phase to bilayer gel phase in multilamellar vesicles of dihexadecylphosphatidylcholine

We have investigated the effects of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the structure and phase behavior of multilamellar vesicles of dihexadecylphosphatidylcholine (DHPC-MLVs) using an X-ray diffraction method. At low concentrations of PEG-6K (MW = 7500), DHPC-MLVs were in an interdigitated gel (L(beta)I) phase, a gel phase with interdigitated hydrocarbon chains. At around 24% (w/v) PEG 6K, a phase transition from the L(beta)I phase to a bilayer gel phase occurred in the DHPC-MLVs, and above this concentration, they were in a bilayer gel phase. On the other hand, ethylene glycol (EG), the monomer of PEG, did not induce this phase transition in the DHPC-MLVs. A mechanism of this phase transition is proposed and discussed; a decrease in the repulsive interaction between the head groups of the phospholipids in the bilayer gel phase with an increase in PEG concentration, which is due to a decrease in the cross-sectional area of the head group region by osmotic stress, may be the main reason for this phase transition.     

Two types of hydrocarbon chain interdigitation in sphingomyelin bilayers

Vibrational Raman spectroscopic experiments have been performed as a function of temperature on aqueous dispersions of synthetic DL-erythro-N-lignoceroylsphingosylphosphocholine [C(24):SPM], a racemic mixture of two highly asymmetric hydrocarbon chain length sphingomyelins. Raman spectral peak-height intensity ratios of vibrational transitions in the C-H stretching-mode region show that the C(24):SPM-H2O system undergoes two thermal phase transitions centered at 48.5 and 54.5 degrees C. Vibrational data for fully hydrated C(24):SPM are compared to those of highly asymmetric phosphatidylcholine dispersions. The Raman data are consistent with the plausible model that the lower temperature transition can be ascribed to the conversion of a mixed interdigitated gel state (gel II) to a partially interdigitated gel state (gel I) and that the higher temperature transition corresponds to a gel I----liquid-crystalline phase transition. The observation of a mixed interdigitated gel state (gel II) at temperatures below 48.5 degrees C implies that biological membranes may have lipid domains in which some of the lipid hydrocarbon chains penetrate completely across the entire hydrocarbon width of the lipid bilayer.     

13C-NMR and spectrophotometric studies of alcohol-lipid interactions

The interactions of butanol and mixtures of butanol and ethanol with dipalmitoylphosphatidyl choline (DPPC) liposomes have been investigated by both spectrophotometric measurements and Fourier transform 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The spectrophotometric experiments indicate that butanol exhibits the same effects on the thermotropic properties of DPPC as the other short chain alcohols, methanol, ethanol and propanol, which have been shown to be characteristic of the alcohol induced transition of the lipid to the interdigitated state. An additive effect of butanol and ethanol on the induction of the interdigitated phase in DPPC was also observed. A decrease in line width and increase in T1 of the choline methyl signal were observed in the 13C-NMR experiments conducted at 32 degrees C when butanol was added to DPPC in increasing amounts suggesting an increase of disorder in the head group region of the lipid. Addition of ethanol to the NMR sample containing butanol produced hysteresis in the heating and cooling curves characteristic of the interdigitated state. In the interdigitated state, the choline methyl signal exhibited a T1 value equal to that when the lipid is in the fluid state. The increase of mobility in the head group region in the interdigitated gel state relative to the bilayer gel can be rationalized by the increase in surface area in that site when the lipid interdigitates.     

Phase transitions and fatty acid spin label behavior in interdigitated lipid phases induced by glycerol and polymyxin

Glycerol and polymyxin have been shown by X-ray diffraction to induce interdigitated bilayers in phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG), respectively (McDaniel, R.V., et al. (1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 731, 97-108; Ranck, J.-L. and Tocanne, J.-F. (1982) FEBS Lett. 143, 175-178). In the present study we have investigated the phase behavior of PC and PG in the presence of glycerol and polymyxin by differential scanning calorimetry and the use of fatty acid spin labels. Interdigitation causes a large increase in the order parameter of a fatty acid spin labeled near the terminal methyl, 16-doxylstearate, so that it was similar to that of a fatty acid labeled much closer to the polar head group region, 5-doxylstearate. Thus interdigitation abolishes the fluidity gradient found in a non-interdigitated bilayer. 16-Doxylstearate may be useful in detecting interdigitation of lipid bilayers caused by other substances. The different samples all went through two transitions on heating or cooling, or both. However, use of the fatty acid spin label showed that the molecular events during these transitions varies for different samples. The results suggested that PC-glycerol freezes from the liquid-crystalline phase into a non-interdigitated gel phase. This subsequently becomes interdigitated upon lowering the temperature a few degrees, in a low enthalpy transition. PG-polymyxin shows a similar behavior except that the enthalpy of the non-interdigitated gel to interdigitated phase transition is greater and the transition is reversible on heating. Thus on heating PG-polymyxin first goes through a transition from the interdigitated phase to a non-interdigitated gel phase and then, in a separate transition, to the liquid-crystalline phase. This occurs because the fatty acid chains in the presence of polymyxin become too disordered with increase in temperature to maintain the interdigitated state. PG-glycerol goes into the interdigitated state less readily than the other mixtures. If cooled rapidly, PG-glycerol freezes into a metastable phase which is more disordered than the interdigitated phase. It goes into the interdigitated phase in an exothermic transition on heating. An increase in fatty acid chain length causes greater steric hindrance to interdigitation but also increases the stabilizing energy gained by interdigitation.     

Proteins containing reductively aminated disaccharides: Synthesis and chemical characterization

Synthetic glycoproteins can be prepared by reductive amination of protein and reducing disaccharide in the presence of sodium cyanoborohydride. The reaction proceeds readily in aqueous solutions over a broad pH range to give high degrees of substitution. The degree of substitution can be determined by amino acid analysis, as the secondary amine linkage formed by reductive amination in stable to acid-catalyzed protein hydrolysis conditions. In order to demonstrate that coupling occurs to lysine residues, synthetic α-N-1-(1-deoxyglucitol)-lysine and ?-N-1-(1-deoxyglucitol)-lysine were prepared and compared with bovine serum albumin conjugates of maltose, cellobiose, lactose, and melibiose by amino acid analysis after acid hydrolysis. These studies demonstrate that the expected secondary amine linkages are formed with the ?-amino groups of lysine.     

Effect of chain-linkage on the structure of phosphatidyl choline bilayers. Hydration studies of 1-hexadecyl 2-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine.

While hydrated dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) forms tilted chain L beta' bilayers in the gel phase, the ether-linked analogue dihexadecyl phosphatidylcholine (DHPC) exhibits gel phase polymorphism. At low hydration DHPC forms L beta' phases but at greater than 30% H2O a chain-interdigitated gel phase is observed (Ruocco, M. J., D. S. Siminovitch, and R. G. Griffin. 1985. Biochemistry. 24:2406-2411; Kim, J.T., J. Mattai, and G.G. Shipley. 1987. Biochemistry. 26:6599-6603). In this study we report the behavior of a phosphatidylcholine (PC) with both types of chain linkage, 1-hexadecyl-2-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (HPPC). HPPC has been investigated as a function of hydration using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and x-ray diffraction. By DSC, over the hydration range 5. 1-70.3 wt% H2O, HPPC exhibits two reversible transitions. The reversible main chain-melting transition decreases from 69 degrees C, reaching a limiting value of 40 degrees C at full hydration. X-ray diffraction patterns of hydrated HPPC have been recorded as a function of hydration at 20 degrees and 50 degrees C. At 50 degrees C, melted-chain L alpha bilayer phases are observed at all hydrations. At 20 degrees C, at low hydrations (less than 34 wt% H2O) HPPC exhibits diffraction patterns characteristic of bilayer gel phases similar to those of the gel phase of DPPC. In contrast, at greater than or equal to 34 wt% H2O, HPPC shows a much reduced bilayer periodicity, d = 47 A, and a single sharp reflection at 4.0 A in the wide angle region. This diffraction pattern is identical to that exhibited by the interdigitated phase of DHPC.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effect of 2,4-dichlorophenol on DPPC/water liposomes studied by X-ray and freeze-fracture electron microscopy

The effect of 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) was studied on the fully hydrated 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC)--water liposomes. The structure and the thermotropic phase behaviour of the liposomes was examined in the presence of DCP (DCP/DPPC molar ratio, varied from 2x10(-2) up to 1) using small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS, WAXS) and freeze-fracture electron microscopy. The structural behaviour of the DPPC/DCP/water system was strongly dependent on the concentration of the DCP. In the pretransition range the DCP molecules (at 2x10(-2) DCP/DPPC molar ratio) induced the interdigitated phase beside the parent (gel and rippled gel) phases, locally which can be form at higher DCP concentration. When the DCP/DPPC molar ratio was increased the pretransition disappeared and the main transition was shifted to lower temperatures. In the molar ratio range from 2x10(-1) up to 5x10(-1), a coexistence of different phases was observed in the wide temperature range from 20 up to 40 degrees C. With a further increase of the DCP/DPPC molar ratio (6x10(-1) to 1) only the interdigitated gel phase occurred below 25 degrees C. A schematic phase diagram of DPPC/DCP/water system was constructed to summarise the results.     

Transport and phosphorylation of disaccharides by the ruminal bacterium Streptococcus bovis.

Toluene-treated cells of Streptococcus bovis JB1 phosphorylated cellobiose, glucose, maltose, and sucrose by the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system. Glucose phosphorylation was constitutive, while all three disaccharide systems were inducible. Competition experiments indicated that separate phosphotransferase systems (enzymes II) existed for glucose, maltose, and sucrose. [14C]maltose transport was inhibited by excess (10 mM) glucose and to a lesser extent by sucrose (90 and 46%, respectively). [14C]glucose and [14C]sucrose transports were not inhibited by an excess of maltose. Since [14C]maltose phosphorylation in triethanolamine buffer was increased 160-fold as the concentration of Pi was increased from 0 to 100 mM, a maltose phosphorylase (Km for Pi, 9.5 mM) was present, and this activity was inducible. Maltose was also hydrolyzed by an inducible maltase. Glucose 1-phosphate arising from the maltose phosphorylase was metabolized by a constitutive phosphoglucomutase that was specific for alpha-glucose 1-phosphate (Km, 0.8 mM). Only sucrose-grown cells possessed sucrose hydrolase activity (Km, 3.1 mM), and this activity was much lower than the sucrose phosphotransferase system and sucrose-phosphate hydrolase activities.     

Transport and phosphorylation of disaccharides by the ruminal bacterium Streptococcus bovis

Toluene-treated cells of Streptococcus bovis JB1 phosphorylated cellobiose, glucose, maltose, and sucrose by the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system. Glucose phosphorylation was constitutive, while all three disaccharide systems were inducible. Competition experiments indicated that separate phosphotransferase systems (enzymes II) existed for glucose, maltose, and sucrose. [14C]maltose transport was inhibited by excess (10 mM) glucose and to a lesser extent by sucrose (90 and 46%, respectively). [14C]glucose and [14C]sucrose transports were not inhibited by an excess of maltose. Since [14C]maltose phosphorylation in triethanolamine buffer was increased 160-fold as the concentration of Pi was increased from 0 to 100 mM, a maltose phosphorylase (Km for Pi, 9.5 mM) was present, and this activity was inducible. Maltose was also hydrolyzed by an inducible maltase. Glucose 1-phosphate arising from the maltose phosphorylase was metabolized by a constitutive phosphoglucomutase that was specific for alpha-glucose 1-phosphate (Km, 0.8 mM). Only sucrose-grown cells possessed sucrose hydrolase activity (Km, 3.1 mM), and this activity was much lower than the sucrose phosphotransferase system and sucrose-phosphate hydrolase activities.     

Solid-state phase behaviour of dodecylglycosides

The solid-state phase behaviour of lyophilised n-dodecyl-beta-D-glucoside (beta-C(12)G(1)), n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside (beta-C(12)G(2)) and n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltotrioside (beta-C(12)G(3)) has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray techniques. For beta-C(12)G(1), lyophilisation results in a formation of a crystalline anhydrate. The lamellar spacing (37 Angstroms) is consistent with an alkyl chain packing in which the chains are not interdigitated. At 80 degrees C, the material melts into a lamellar liquid crystal with a lamellar spacing of 32 Angstroms, which suggests that the non-interdigitated chain packing of the crystalline state is retained in the liquid crystal. In contrast, lyophilisation of beta-C(12)G(2) and beta-C(12)G(3) results in the formation of a glassy state, best described as a frozen version of the lamellar liquid crystal. For beta-C(12)G(2), the lamellar spacing in the glass and liquid crystal suggests interdigitation of the alkyl chains. The glass transition temperature was found to be 65 degrees C for beta-C(12)G(2) and 100 degrees C for beta-C(12)G(3), which compares favourably with the glass transition of the parent carbohydrates. A second crystalline modification of beta-C(12)G(1) was prepared by precipitation from an aqueous solution at temperatures below the Krafft point (38 degrees C). For this modification, the lamellar distance (24 Angstroms) is consistent with interdigitated alkyl chains. At 50 degrees C, the crystalline material melts into a liquid crystalline phase. The material also readily loses water and rapidly re-crystallises to the anhydrate. The amount of water lost upon drying is consistent with the idea that the material is a monohydrate of beta-C(12)G(1). The drying and re-crystallisation processes give rise to 'pre-transitions' in the DSC thermograms and illustrate the importance of careful control of water in any analysis of the phase behaviour of alkylglycosides.